первый
by Fabled-Reverie
Summary: AU, fem!Canada. Maddie loves winter and everything about it - especially skiing. What will her search for a perfect rival bring her on her week-long ski trip with her family? Russiaxfem!Canada. T for liberty of language.
1. One: My Stomach is Growling

**Author's Note:** I obviously do not own Hetalia. I apologize in advance for any glaring improbabilities associated with the skiing/snowboarding. I am ashamed as a Canadian to say that I have never been either skiing or snowboarding. I also apologize in advance for the lack of action in the first chapter - but bear with me, it gets better (I think.)

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The snow was falling outside in light flakes and Maddie heaved a heavy sigh as she turned her attention from the icy windowpane to the restless boy beside her. Her brother never could handle long car rides, and she could sense from his constant groans that he had left the little patience he possessed about an hour behind them. She could also tell that the reason behind his impatience was hunger, as each grunt was preceded by the aggressive rumbling of Alfred's stomach. Maddie chuckled, musing to herself that his stomach's grumblings perfectly accompanied his personality.

As her bangs fell softly in front of her eyes, she wondered if everyone's stomach made noises that gave away their personality. Her query was quickly answered by a light gurgle from her own abdomen. Yes - now she too was hungry. She decided it would be best if she came out with it right away, as Alfred could no doubt wait much longer. Leaning forward, she gently tapped their father on the shoulder.

"Dad, I'm feeling a little hungry, and from the sound of his stomach so is Alfred." She was answered with a disgruntled nod.

"Is that so?" came the lightly accented voice. It was more of a statement than a question, and Maddie nodded slowly while Alfred was squirming in his seat, clearly showing agreement.

"Pops, can we stop at McDonald's?" he suggested hopefully. He could almost taste the burger that was moments away from his hands. Another disgruntled sound came from the driver's seat.

"Oi, you do know that we are almost there, right? I can make you some food when we arrive." Maddie felt her stomach churn at the thought. As much as she loved her father, she would rather go hungry than eat his cooking - if you could even call it that. A small whimper escaped her lips, and Alfred groaned in disgust.

"But I don't want your nasty scones, I want a hero-burger!" was his reply. He was blunt enough for the both of them, but she knew what was coming next. The complaint from the lanky teen had elicited an indignant scoff from their father, followed by a raised tone of scolding. Alfred rebutted this with his usual whining and taunting of British cuisine, which raised the volume of noise in the car even further. Sighing, she interjected as she always did before things got too out of hand.

"M-maybe we should just pull into that place," she said, pointing at a nearby fast food joint. She was recieved with a questioning glance. "If only to shut him up," she whispered, gesturing to Alfred. Sensing his defeat, their father pulled into the turning lane that led to the greasy burger place and groaned. Alfred jumped in delight - he would get his burger.

"We are not getting out of the car though, just going through the drive-thru. It's freezing outside and I'd rather not have my pores infested with the fry-oil that lurks in the air in those bloody establishments." It was his own slice of victory, and Maddie knew that Alfred would be satisfied just as long as he got his ham- er.. hero-burger.

The car creaked over a speed bump and pulled into the parking lot. Their father headed straight to the drive-thru lane. Being the middle of winter in a small town, the place was not busy. Alfred was mumbling a list of possible orders to himself as the car came to a halt at the order box.

"Welcome to McDonald's," began an uninterested teenager on the other end. "Like, how may I take your order?" They made their orders quickly - their father only asking for a coffee (while muttering something about tea at the wheel) - while Alfred ordered his two burgers, milkshake and large fries. How he could stomach so much of the food was beyond her; she ordered only medium fries. "Your order comes to $15.72. Like, thanks for choosing McDonald's." The voice sounded again.

On cue, their car inched forward toward the pick-up box and they payed for their food. Alfred quickly scrambled to retrieve his precious meal from the paper bag. Happy with his burgers, he began to scarf them down. Maddie let out a chuckle and began to munch on a french fry. Through a full mouth, her brother managed to choke out, "D'd 'nyone 'lse n't 'xpect a boy at th' p'ck-'p?" The garbled speech would have made sense to no one but them. All three shared a hearty laugh as the car made its way back onto the main road.

She could already tell that this was going to be a strange week.

The old car rattled onto a side road just as Maddie finished the last of her french fries. Alfred had finished his meal long ago, wolfing it down as if he hadn't eaten in years. _Anyone who watches him eat would think he was malnourished something terrible._ She thought to herself, vision drifting to the world rushing by her window. It was a familiar road; they had been to this particular resort once before, long ago. Though she hadn't seen the surroundings in quite some time, ten years had not changed the place much.

Magnificent snow-covered conifers rushed by her window while jagged mountain cliffs formed the backdrop. As bitterly cold as winter was, it created the most serene and beautiful of scenes. Imagining small ice crystals forming on her scarf as she breathed into it, she could not wait to inhale the crisp, clear air at the top of the hill. Thinking about finally skiing again was making her antsy, as she hadn't run down a hill since the season ended earlier in the year. There was something so pure about being at a ski resort the week it opened for the season. Fresh fallen snow that hadn't been trampled yet, being the first one to run down the hill, the silence in the moments before making that first push downwards - it was all too thrilling.

Maddie shifted back in her seat and closed her eyes, imagining the view from the peak. The car noisily rattled onto a gravel road, and continued its incline towards the resort. It wasn't much further now - maybe fifteen minutes drive. She wondered if she would meet any interesting people during their stay, remembering the good friends she had made last time. In a skiing for beginners lesson with other seven-year-olds, she had met many new friends. There was a smiling Finnish boy named Tino, his tall friend Berwald, a small grumpy boy named Vash, and a shy but skilled Austrian named Roderich.

After stumbling several times while trying to keep her footing, Roderich had showed her the proper way to balance herself when moving down the hill. Vash huffed haughtily, but in his arrogance, he himself fell off balance. Red-faced, he clambered back to his feet. Both boys had apparently been skiing together for years already. She spent the remainder of the day practicing on the bunny hill with Tino while Berwald watched from the side, which she attributed to the fact that he seemed embarrassed by his own lack of co-ordination. Alfred had spent the day snowboarding, which she was grateful for, since he would have laughed at her stumbling. At the end of the day she had improved her technique thanks to Roderich and found a friend in Tino. To that day the two still conversed, though it was through email, as he had returned to Finland to live with his grandparents.

She reclined again in thought. Maybe she would meet some new friends in their week here, but this time it would not be in a lesson. Her skills were more fine-tuned now, through years of practice, and she did not need lessons. No - her friends this time would come through worthy adversaries as she raced down the hill, or maybe from a friendly game of pool in the rec room. Perhaps she would even see some of those same people from her lesson so many years ago.

Her eyes closed in thought again, but the car jerked to a stop. In her pensive state, she had not seen the approaching lodge; they had finally arrived. She opened her eyes only to witness the comical sight of Alfred squishing his face up against the icy glass of the car window. If only she could see it from the view of the people _outside_ the car! Maybe his face would get stuck to the glass itself. Now _that_ would be a fun story to tell back at school.

"Alfred, lad, don't you think it would be a more effective way of taking in the sights if you opened the door?" His hand shot to the door handle in excitement as he gripped his bag and took off towards the lodge door.

"C'mon you slowpokes! The day is still young and I want to get in some good hill time before dinner!" he called back before dissapearing inside. Their father sighed and grabbed his own belongings from the trunk as she climbed out of the back seat and took in a slow breath of fresh air.

"Well I suppose we might as well hurry after him before he causes any trouble." He said as he locked the car and took off after his mischievous son. Maddie grabbed her bags and shut the door with her foot. Peering over the edge of the small cliff, she sighed dreamily at the beautiful valley below before heading to the lodge herself.

Oh, how she had missed this place.

From her initial perception of the entry hall, the place had not changed much inside either. The sounds and bustling of people rang through the building, and the comforting aroma of fireplace smoke prickled in her nostrils. Hanging above the doorway were the ever-present animal busts, which she had learned ten years ago had been the prized kills of the owner and his son. The same worn carpet rested beneath her feet that was there all those years ago. Maddie scoured the ground for the wear-spot from her memory.

She found it in the carpet space in front of the guest couches in the lounge. Kneeling down to inspect the section of carpet more intensively, she pressed her gloved hands against the rough surface. She could remember the day it was made as if it were yesterday. Worn out from the day's excitement, Alfred had fallen asleep by the warming lull of the fire. He still wore his rough winter boots on his feet, and was rustling his body around, an action that he had done since infancy. Even when he slept, the boy was restless. The mark would never had resulted had it not been for the fact that their father, too, had fallen asleep on the couches, with her brother's head cradled in his gentle hands. She didn't dare disturb them, and instead settled her aching body on the last seat left on the plush couch, slipping into pleasant dreams herself.

To anyone who had seen it, the sight was endearing - an entire family huddled together, basking in the soft glow of the fire. However, the detail of taking off his boots that Alfred had neglected warranted a rude awakening by the owner's wife. Apparently his constant shifting during his slumber had astonishingly worn away at the rough carpet, leaving the wear mark that she was touching at that moment. The woman had been angry, but her husband had been more understanding, simply dismissing the problem and remarking on how it would be an interesting story to tell the guests and snapping a shot of the sleepy family.

Maddie gently lifted her head and turned her attention to the photos above the mantle. There, on the left-hand side was their picture, worn away by the years. It was surrounded by others as well, other families and coupled that had passed through the resort at some point or another. She slowly lifted herself to study the picture at a closer distance. All three of them looked groggy from sleep, but still blissful from their comfort. Alfred's face was molded in a yawn while her own eyes were fluttered half-closed and their father wore a confused look through his sleepiness. Remembering the wear in the carpet reminded her of how different they were back then, yet still the same as now, much like the hall itself.

Upon further study, she noticed the minute details that had changed the room she was standing in. The mouldings around the base of the wall were new, as was the coat of wine-red paint that covered the walls. The feeling the room gave off was now more rustic, as some would call it. Perhaps that just came along with the aging of the lodge. Skiting her fingers across the red walls, she made her way to the room where the check-in desk was. Their father was conversing with the small blond woman at the desk while her brother was fidgeting with his jacket zipper. She calmly placed her bag on the floor and spoke so quietly that only Alfred could hear her.

"The mark is still there, and so is the picture." She was recieved with a small chuckle.

"I am surprised the new owners haven't tore out this ugly stuff yet." he mused, kicking his feet at the floor. When their father had heard that the resort had changed hands, he had immediately suggested they go for a week that coming winter.

"I have a feeling that it's not staying much longer, judging by the other renovations they have already made." she replied, with a hint of sadness in her voice. She lifted her head to the petite woman at the check-in desk. Was she one of the family that had bought the place? Maddie regarded the woman's short blond hair and decided that she could not be more than fifteen years old. Studying the girl's face, she perceived the round shape and plumpness that could only be attributed to youth, and the girl wore a purple hair bow to boot. She was fumbling at the keyboard, attempting to get the family of three checked-in, but her inexperience was slowing the process down. Flustered, she uttered an apology at the increasingly agitated British man that was Maddie and Alfred's father.

"I'm sorry, I'm new at this! I'll go get my brother, he knows how to do this," she chirped before scuttling to the doorway behind her. "One moment please." Their father let out a frustrated sigh that seemed to say 'this is what happens when you leave the new girl at the desk opening week.' Maddie placed a reassuring hand on her father's shoulder and he turned with a warm smile.

"Despite it all, I'm glad we decided to come here again." she let the words slip from her lips.

"I am too," Alfred's voice interjected. "Even if this is taking forever!" It was clear that the teen wanted to be on the slopes snowboarding, perhaps chatting up some cute foreign girls or something. At his complaint, the small girl returned with a taller blond man in tow. Well, he was not tall exactly, just taller than the girl. The man wore a scowl that seemed etched into face permanently. He did not give off an air of friendliness, however the vibe he gave was not hostile either. The girl whispered something into his ear and he sat down at the desk, fingers flicking rapidly over the keys.

"Last name?" he demanded more than asked. Their father supplied the name and it was quickly entered into the computer. As the man's concentration was upon the keyboard, Maddie noticed something faintly familiar about his huffed voice and scowling face. Before she could place him in her mind, his voice came again. "You're all checked in. Room 203, here are your keys. Enjoy your stay." Without hesitation, Alfred and her father made their way towards the elevator. Maddie added a quiet 'thank you' and picked up her bags, studying the man's face as she headed to where her brother and father waited. Just as she arrived at the door, it gave a soft ding and it slid open, empty. Hauling all their bags into the lift, Maddie ventured a question.

"Did that man seem familiar to you?" she was answered by two simultaneous head-shakes. No luck. Maybe she had just seen someone that looked like him on TV or something. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind as the elevator made its soft ding again and the door slid open once again. She made her way to the room in quiet excitement, while her twin brother was much more vocal about his own anticipation.

"I can't wait to get out on the slopes!" he repeated, shaking with glee. "Maybe I'll meet some hot chicks too!" Typical Alfred. Maddie chuckled at the amazing differences between herself and her brother - for being twins, they sure didn't act like it. Alfred was loud, boisterous, even borderline arrogant, while she was quiet and reserved, but deeply passionate. Though she rarely showed her passionate side, it was hard to ignore when she was racing down the hill.

Even if she was largely ignored at school compared to her over-exuberant brother, no one could deny her presence on the slopes. It was the only thing she held above Alfred: agility and skill on the ski hill. The boy was good, she could give him that, but at the end of the day she could tell he had face planted almost tenfold from what she had. Perhaps it was his lack of attention to detail, or the magnitude of her own, but no one could deny that she, Maddie Kirkland, was an amazing skier.

And so she stayed quiet in her daily life, anticipating the day that the snow would begin to fall, and the local hills would open. Winter had easily become her favourite season as a child, and when the soft flakes began to fall, usually in the still November air, she rushed outside with her large woolen coat and savoured the icy crystals on her tongue. As she shifted her glance from the interior of their room to the large window, she let out a small gasp of delight. _The view from their room was gorgeous._

Dropping her bags on the couch, she pressed her still-gloved hand to the glass. She wanted outside right then, and she wasn't ready to wait. At a hurried pace, she emptied her bag into the dresser next to one of the beds. She grabbed all that she needed and rushed into the bathroom to change. As cozy as the warmth of the room was, the crisp inviting view of the valley had grabbed her interest with intense agility. In a flash, she was all changed, and she yelled something back to her brother and father as she whipped out of their room. Who would have guessed that she would have been on the slopes before the impatient Alfred?

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Yay! First chapter is done. This is my first fic. Tell me what you think in a review, please?


	2. Two: My Breath is Visible

**Author's Note:** Uwah~ (Sorry, I had a Feliciano moment there..) You all have floored me with your kind reviews, alert listing and favouriting! I realize my summary is lame (and slightly cheesy sounding), and I'm so glad you're all enjoying the story so far. I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. I again apologize for my lack of personal experience in skiing and snowboarding. (It was _so_ smart of me to pick it as a main plot point, eh?) I was saving this for Sunday, but here is a treat for you all on this wonderful Friday morning!

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There was no doubt in his mind that he hated winter. Just how much he loathed the chill of the season was the real question. He hated the way his nose prickled at a mere inhale. He hated the false warmth promised by sunshine on a clear winter day. He hated the cruel laughter that the bitter wind whipped against his ears. But most of all, Ivan hated how he seemed to thrive in the sub-zero conditions.

Despite his obvious hatred for the season, he was constantly reminded of the fact that he was skilled in winter sports. Somehow, all the years of his early life that were spent trying to withstand the cold has translated to familiarity with how snow and ice worked. He could easily tell which snow was best for skiing, which was best for making snowballs, and when the ice conditions were just right for skating or hockey. Anyone looking in on his behaviour from the outside would assume he loved the winter season most of all, but anyone who knew him personally could tell better.

Sweet and caring as she was, sometimes his sister could be pretty oblivious to the people around her. Katyusha knew he hated snow, yet she constantly pushed him to withstand its disgusting crunch beneath his large feet. Deep down, he knew she was making some sort of attempt to coax him into enjoying the conditions, but he had been adamant for a long time that he was not going to give in. Unfortunately, neither was she. Case and point: his older sister had suggested all three of them take a trip together before he moved out. He cringed internally when he learned they were to be embarking on a ski vacation. And so they had ended up squished into a tiny car, with their bags packed full for their week long retreat at a ski resort not far from where they lived.

Ivan had spent most of the brief car ride staring out the hardened window. Even the glass was attempting to save itself from the bitter creep of ice. As the days grew colder, it must have become harder as well. The marvel of the phenomenon was that the tensing of the glass caused it to become stiff, and therefore easily breakable. The effect the window had seemed to desire was in fact the exact opposite of what resulted: hardening itself had introduced vulnerability. Skimming his eyes over the scenery as it passed, Ivan couldn't help but scoff. How anyone could actually enjoy being out in such cruel conditions was beyond him.

The steep valley below them was growing, until he could no longer make out the bottom. Smirking, he entertained the idea of flinging himself over the edge - just to count the seconds it took to reach the ground. But no, he would never let the winter beat him. Launching himself onto the cold, jagged rocks below would be just like admitting defeat, and he despised the idea of losing. Now, sitting in a giant chair in the room they had been given, Ivan was glaring out at that same valley through the large window.

Light snow was falling, and he could make out the slight figures of skiers and snowboarders taking their first runs. He was determined to spend as little time as possible outside, instead settling for the warming glow of a fireplace, or maybe a few games of billiards. Reclining backwards in the chair, he closed his eyes. He would have to devise a plan quickly to keep as far away from the outdoors as possible, but fatigue was beginning to slow that goal. As he was slipping into a soft doze, a sudden weight appeared on his chest and he let out a deep gasp. Snapping his eyes open, he saw the slight frame of his younger sister bent over him, eyes boring into his own. Natalya had dropped ski-gear on his sleeping body.

"Brother you promised you would teach me to ski today," she stated, her gruff voice almost inaudible to human ears. It was true - he had promised - but the intent was mostly to get her to shut up during the car ride. As much as he preferred the peaceful silence of their room to the bitter world outside, he knew he could not back out of this promise. He would not hear the end of it from either of them if he had. Rising to his feet, he clutched the bag of equipment to his stomach.

"Alright," was his reply. "Give me ten minutes, I'll meet you up there." Natalya let out a squeak of excitement which was echoed by Katyusha. The two girls swiftly headed out the door and towards the elevator, vocalizing their excitement and anticipation for the day ahead of them. Heaving a deep sigh, Ivan began to change into his thick clothes. It wasn't that he disliked spending time with his sisters, he just couldn't handle too much of them in one span of time.

They were both full of energy in their own ways. Katyusha expended hers in a motherly fashion; Natalya used hers to trail Ivan anywhere he went. Oh, how he would sigh in relief the day he moved out, finally free from her constant shadowing. After the three of them had been left alone in life, she had become unbearably clingy towards her less-than-enthused older brother. Katyusha on the other hand had become insufferably over-protective of everything her younger siblings did. Ivan liked to spend his time alone, or at least in the company of someone who wasn't desperate for his attention.

He zipped his heavy jacket right to the top and picked up the equipment, making his way to the door. Taking one last glance out the window at the world he was about to venture into he let out a low grumble. Somehow, it looked colder outside then than it had a few minutes prior. He opened the door to head to the elevator and stepped out, locking it behind him with a soft click. As he turned to make his way down the hall, he heard heavy boot steps carrying down the corridor. He turned his head to see who was making all the noise but was only granted a flash of strawberry-blonde hair and a deep red blur before the person disappeared from his view and down into the stairwell.

"You would think someone in that much of a hurry would take the elevator." he muttered to himself, heading in the direction the blur had come from. Juggling his bag in his arm, Ivan pressed the car call button and waited for the door to slide open. A soft ding was emitted, but it was drowned by the flood of harried voices coming from inside the lift. Apparently the elevator was busy that day. As the large group of people poured out, Ivan decided that it was a family, and that it was probably why the rushed blur had taken the stairs. The people conversed in a tongue he could not understand - an Asian language - and an older boy seemed to be scolding a younger one. A few younger girls were the last ones out of the elevator, and he made his way into the car as their footsteps carried farther away.

The door slid shut and he enjoyed peaceful silence as the frenzied voices of the asian family drifted out of earshot. The car shifted downwards and began its descent. Ivan savoured the tranquil moment, as he knew it was possibly his last of the daylight hours. The elevator lurched to a stop and the door gave its soft ding. Collecting his bag, he stepped onto the main floor of the building. His eyes scoured his surroundings for the exit he had seen on their way in, and he found it just next to the check-in desk. He swiftly made his way to the door and pushed it open with ease.

A soft breeze grazed his cheek and a snowflake drifted to the tip of his nose. Scowling, he adjusted his large scarf further up his face and ventured into the cold that awaited him.

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Shifting in the chairlift, Ivan glanced at the ground growing further away from his boots and frowned. He could jump right then and avoid the entire ordeal. The snow beneath the chairlift was soft, wasn't it? Perhaps it would be kind enough to break his fall? He scoffed, he knew better than that, the snow didn't care if you died on its surface or were buried twenty feet below it. He had to accept his fate. He was being forced to enjoy the merriment of skiing against his will, and his sisters were the cause of it all.

At least after his hour or so teaching Natalya he would be free to roam the hills by himself, leaving his two sisters in each others company. However, if he even so much as attempted to leave the mountain, Katyusha would know. She had an incredible sense to where he was at any given moment, and even in his most quiet moments of escape, she would always drag him back onto the hill until dusk began to settle upon the distant mountains.

Ivan prepared himself to jump from the chairlift as he saw the ground growing nearer again. Pushing off from the hard seat with his leather gloves, he landed softly on the ground below. So the snow was soft. He could have jumped earlier and not been hurt, but it was too late now as he heard Katyusha calling for him.

"IIIIIvaaaaaannn! Over heeeerree!" Damn, he had been spotted. He turned to her as if to say 'you've won' and let her grasp his hand tightly, leading him to where Natalya was waiting. "What took you so long?" Katyusha was speaking again. He contemplated telling her of his reluctance to step foot outside, but he knew the effort would be futile.

"Hold up at the elevator. Large family." It wasn't a complete lie, and she didn't need to know that. Her nod was all the satisfaction he needed, and they stopped at the peak of the hill. Natalya immediately clung to his arm, as if holding on to dear life and she choked out in a low growl.

"You must teach me to stay on my feet, Brother." So began his day of hell. A quick spat about him needing both arms to teach her the proper way to ski, and her needing to hold onto something for balance emerged. In the end he convinced her that's what the poles were for, and she reluctantly let go of her grip on his forearm. Katyusha was a fair distance across the way and he cursed her internally for leaving him alone with the stumbling Natalya.

The lesson passed with agonizing slowness, but soon Natalya was able to stay upright over top of her skis with a surprising level of confidence. Some deep part of him wondered if she had been feigning inexperience the entire time, but he pushed it into the recesses of his mind as she face planted into the cold snow below her. He pulled her up for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, and brushed her off. "Even though you just fell, I think it is safe to say you can handle the hill on your own?" He was met with a moment of slight resistance, but it subsided into a somber nod. 'Good. Go meet up with Katyusha then, I wish to be alone now."

Natalya again nodded slowly and cautiously made her way in the direction Kaytusha had gone. He did not move a muscle until her shaky form dissapeared below a rise in the hill. A wave of relief washed over him and he skillfully manouvered his way back to the chairlift. If he was going to spent the rest of the day on the damned mountain, he might as well make a challenge of it. He positioned himself infront to the upcoming chair and allowed himself to be pulled up by its mechanical force. Again the ground grew further away from his feet. By this time the mountain was littered with more bodies attempting to make their way down the various hills. It must have been nearly 2 o'clock; Several hours of sunlight still remained.

As the chairlift took him slowly to one of the higher hills, the chairs behind and in front of him emptied. Only the truly experienced would attempt the more advanced courses. There was only one or two other people left on the lift as he dropped from his perch onto the soft snow below. One of the people dropped of a distance ahead of him, while the other continued climbing. Ivan groaned internally but did not let it escape his lips; he would have company on this hill. Though perhaps it was not such a bad thing - he could never pass up the thrill of competition. As if on cue, the form in front of him turned about face and issued a challenge.

"I'll race you! My snowboarding skills against your skiing!" the voice was boisterous and loud in contrast to his own low, reserved one. A slow smile slighted his lips and crept higher on his face. With a nod and a growing glint in his eye, Ivan accepted the challenge and manoeuvred his way up to the level the boy was standing at. He was tall and lanky, though not taller than him. Ivan figured he easily had 50 pounds on the boy, being quite large and muscular himself. The boy shot him a mischievous smile and counted off. "One, two.." he stalled, preparing. "Three!" With that, the two of them shot down the mountain with impressive acceleration.

Ivan could admit that the kid was good, even excellent, but his own skill could not be denied. Hearing the boy struggling slightly with his footing, his competitive nature kicked into overdrive. He quickly took the lead, smile stretching the full width of his large face. The forces of gravity were on his side. His skill combined with his extra weight was pulling him down the hill much faster than the other boy could muster. Almost effortlessly, he skimmed around the perimeters of the course, close enough to smell the fresh scent of pine needles. Behind him, the blonde boy was muttering curses while attempting to gain speed. He was ashamed to be losing to a complete stranger.

As the bottom of the course neared, Ivan picked up speed again, allowing gravity to guide him down the hill. The course leveled out and with a slight skid at the end, he sharply stopped and waited for his opponent to finish as well. The competitive glint in his eyes waned and was replaced by a light watering. The air that had rushed past his face had dried them considerably. A few seconds behind, the other boy skidded into view. Red-faced and breathing rapidly, he rested his hands on his knees and caught himself. The amused smirk had not left Ivan's lips. After a few moments of rest, the boy spoke.

"Damn, you're good! The only person I know that can beat me is my sister." he panted out, lifting his bright blue eyes to meet Ivan's own. "I would love to see someone finally kick her butt!" Ivan chuckled at the notion.

"You are beaten by your sister? Mine can hardly stay on her feet while on skis." Seemingly amused, the boy held out his hand.

"I'm Alfred Kirkland! Nice to meet you." There was friendliness there, but also an air of bitterness, having been beaten. Ivan extended his hand and nodded.

"Ivan." he supplied. "You were a worthy adversary." The boy seemed miffed at the comment, but shook it off while muttering words that sounded suspiciously similar to 'next time'. Ivan turned to leave Alfred with his mutterings.

"I must leave to find my sisters now." He lied. He wanted to be alone to revel in his victory. He parted before Alfred could reply.

Ivan spent the remainder of the day testing the slopes and readjusting his thick scarf to shield his nose from the biting cold. As soon as he regarded that the dusk was approaching the mountains on the horizon, he made his way down the mountain as swiftly as he could. He could almost feel the warmness of the fire caressing his skin, wearing away the hardened chill of the day. His insides would be warmed by a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

Upon re-entering the main building, he could smell the inviting scent of wood smoke. The draw of warmth was too strong now, and he quickly made his way back to his room Changing into more comfortable clothes, he noticed that his sisters had still not arrived back. Katyusha and Natalya would be returning soon though. He knew they would wish him to be there when they did, but he wanted to be downstairs, basking in the warmth of the fire. He left them a note detailing where he would be and stuck it to the backside of the door. He would soothe his cold, aching body by the embers of the fireplace in the lounge.

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Please forgive Ivan, he's a crazy, bitter bastard! Well, I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter, and I'm looking forward to your kind reviews!


	3. Three: My Skin is Icy

**Author's Note:** Here's the latest chapter. I think I've decided to update on Thursdays, as it gives me the weekend to write the main body of the chapter, then the first few days of the week to edit/tweak it. Hopefully that plan will work out! I feel like I am moving this very slow, but I promise more exciting things will happen soon!

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To say that her day had been uneventful was an understatement in the extreme.

After her harried rush out of their room to head for the slopes, she figured it would be best to bypass the elevator, as it would probably be filling up and decidedly busy by this time in the day. She headed for the stairs instead. Almost knocking into a poor man that was leaving his own room, Maddie uttered a quiet apology all while still running for the stairwell. She desperately wanted to be the first to ride down the top hill. A few minutes spent outside getting her equipment on, and she was being whisked away by the chairlift. She was determined to reach the top before anyone else.

To her relief, when she reached the summit, she could see no discernible track marks in sight. Pumping her fist in the air, she savoured her moment. The air was crisp and cold, and a slight wind rustled the trees. High, grey clouds covered the sky and grew darker off in the distance. A mist of breath hung in the atmosphere every time she exhaled. Without another minute of hesitation, she took off down the hill. The slow wind snapped the hair that peeked from under the toque at her face wildly as she moved. There was something so internally settling about being the first down a hill for the season. She was free to roam wherever she pleased, creating the track marks for the people who would follow her all year. The satisfying crunch of snow as her expert skiing flattened it was a melody to her ears. The fresh air and light snow whipping past her as she flew down the hill was the background music to a symphony she called winter. _Oh god, my thoughts are so cheesy!_ She laughed in spite of herself.

After the first exhilarating run, she was aching for another go, and climbed into the chairlift again and again. Each time was almost as exciting as the one that had preceded it. Five runs in, she was becoming a bit worried though. Where were her so-called opponents? Why hadn't anyone showed up yet to challenge her. She decided to venture further down to the level everyone else seemed to be, and gently came to a stop lower down the mountain. Eyes searching the hills below her, she could see small dots littering the crevices of the valley. The shapes of parents teaching small children were far below, and she could see a lesson taking place on one of the lower hills. The would not be heading further up the mountain that day. She shifted her glance to the chair lift, and saw a few bodies perched upon it, climbing higher than her current position. _Finally, other people,_ the words came to her mind.

Excitement brimming at her lungs, she hastily moved toward the lift and began her slow ascent. The chairs were considerably packed, though not too full. Maddie watched the ground beneath her slide by. It was such a strange sensation to be moving over top of the snow without touching it. She feigned skiing on it, shutting one of her eyes to make it look more believable to her mind. The sheer size of her skis compared to the people dropping off below made her feel like a giant. The sight was comical.

Lifting her eyes, she checked to see how many people still accompanied her on the lift. As more people dropped off, her heart sank. So these were intermediate skiers too? Where were all the advanced ones? She turned behind her to see if there was anyone still there. She smiled and waved when she spotted her brother Alfred a few seats back, but she knew he too would be dropping to the ground shortly. He gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up before falling to the snow below. She huffed in disappointment. It looked as though she was not going to find a worthy adversary that day as dusk was a few hours away.

The initial rush from the first run had long-worn off, and Maddie settled for a final few hours of solitary practice runs of one of the higher hills. With dusk about forty-five minutes away, she decided to turn in for the day. Her feet were tired and her body was weary but she still decided that she would ski to the base of the mountain rather than relinquish to the chairlift. The last blow of cold air on her reddened cheeks died down as she reached the bottom. Disappointed, she surrendered and headed off to the lodge. _Maybe some hot chocolate will cheer me up,_ she thought morosely.

She returned to their room quickly and found her father sipping at a teacup at the table, and a pouting Alfred on the couch. Sliding her bag into the closet, she turned into the kitchen. She found the hot water her father had used for tea and pulled a mug from the cupboards. Filling it half up with water and half up with milk, she searched in their food-bag for the hot chocolate mix. Real hot chocolate would be much better, but the pre-mixed stuff would have to do. She emptied the packet's contents into her mug and began to stir thoughtfully. Had she seen Alfred pouting on the couch?

She turned towards the sitting area to see - yes, he indeed had a sour look on his face. She approached her father and asked as quietly as she could if he knew what was wrong. She sipped her hot beverage and he replied with a deep snicker, setting his cup on the saucer. "Boy lost some race to a tall fellow earlier today." She almost spit hot chocolate all over her poor father.

"Are you serious? Alfred lost?" She choked out. Sure he had lost races before, but recently it had only been to her. She saw a nod out of the corner of her eye and a deep wail was emitted from the couch.

"You didn't have to tell her, old man!" Maddie knew he was only a gracious loser in front of those he lost to. When he was by himself he would always whine about it. A slight pang of jealousy suddenly hit her. Alfred had found a worthy opponent and she hadn't? Sometimes life liked to twist her in strange ways. Her voice left her in a quiet murmur.

"I would have heard it from you eventually." While this would have normally gone unnoticed by her loud brother, he seemed to tune right into it.

"Oh yeah! Well I bet that kid could even beat you!" His voice was tinged with jealousy. The sight was quite amusing, actually. Alfred rarely became jealous of anything, but when he was, he would not let it go easily. His cheeks were flushed in anguish and his eyebrows were furrowed.

"Alfred, you know I don't race snowboarders," was her retort. Alfred snorted at this. "Well, except you." she finished. His eyes lit up in delight at her reply.

"Maddie! This kid was a skier and he was gigantic! He must have been 6'4 or taller! At least 240 lbs.." He was rambling, but she did not hear most of it. Her brain stopped at one word: _skier_. So the kid that had beaten her brother was a skier? Maybe she would have a rival yet. A small smile crept to her lips. "..and he said his sister was a clumsy oaf!"

"Oi, Alfred, you're going to disturb the neighbours!" Their father was attempting to quiet the now shouting teenager. A smirk spread itself over Alfred's face.

"You two should race!" He spouted, his air of jealousy well worked off by his rambling. Maddie pursed her lips in thought before replying.

"Maybe we should." She flopped down on the couch beside her twin. His eyes widened in surprise, fixating on the mug in her hand.

"We've got HOT CHOCOLATE?" His mind had shifted from competition to food. "I WANT SOME." He quickly scrambled to the kitchen to make himself some as she finished the last gulp of hers. Her insides were thoroughly warmed by then, but the chill in her bones still remained. The fireplace in their room was not lit, but she remembered smelling wood smoke as she entered the lodge. She moved to set her mug in the small sink and filled it with water so the chocolate would not stain. Hands free, she shuffled to the small adjoining room with her bed in it. She kicked off her boots and changed into comfy clothes, including her favourite polar-bear slippers.

"Dad, I'm going down to the lounge to relax by the fire." She grabbed an apple out of the fridge. "Don't worry about dinner, I won't be that hungry." As she left, the last sounds she heard were the faint grumblings of her father - he was going to cook all three of them dinner. Maddie grinned at her sly avoidance of his cooking once again. _I can survive off fruit and hot chocolate all week, right?_ She took a big bite out of her apple and climbed down the stairs that led to the lounge.

Stepping out of the stairwell, the distinct smell of firewood greeted her nostrils. She inhaled deeply and opened her eyes to scan the room for an available seat near the fire. Spotting an empty armchair, she made her way towards it. The place was not that busy; dusk had just fallen. But, she knew soon a rush of tired skiers and snowboarders would return and everyone would want a seat by the hearth. She smirked at her own fortune to have left the slopes slightly earlier than usual. Most times she returned, the spots closest to the fire were all occupied.

Lightly, Maddie allowed her sore body flop into the soft chair, which went largely unnoticed by the four other people there. Sighing in relaxation, she skimmed her eyes across the faces in the room. Sitting on the love seat about five metres away were two young adults - perhaps twenty-three or twenty-four - cuddling near the glow of the flickering flames. On the seat just past them sat a familiar looking blonde man. Trying to mask her concentration, Maddie attempted another sideways glance at him. He wore a slight scowl on his face and had deep green eyes. She recognized him as the man from the check-in counter.

That was only half the mystery solved, as she had also recognized him when they were being checked in. So where did she know him from? Her eyes squinted in concentration. In her determination, she had forgotten that she was outwardly staring at someone, and his eyes flicked in her direction. With a small jump, she turned her face to the fire, trying to hide the fact that she had just been watching him. Those eyes - those green eyes - she knew them. His eyes had been scrunched in the seemingly-permanent scowl that he had plastered on his face. From beside her, the man huffed almost soundlessly, but she had heard it. Finally, realization dawned on her.

"V-Vash?" She had now acquired his full attention. His green eyes bore into her with surprise momentarily before a switch back to the standard scowl.

"How do you know my name?" His voice was riddled with defiance. She swallowed a bubble and tried to collect her thoughts. How could she explain it to him without it sounding strange? She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Vash looked unimpressed, and slightly impatient. She tried again.

"W-Well, we've met once before, but it was a really long time ago," she began. His eyes widened with interest. "I believe it was in beginner's lessons at this very resort, ten years ago." Maddie again swallowed a bubble. Would he remember her, or think she was some weird stalker?

"You're the girl who kept falling, aren't you?" His voice was stiff, but not unfriendly. With relief, she met his gaze and nodded. "The one that Roderich taught?" He added, a touch of fondness invading his tone. She could tell he was searching in the depths of his memory for her name.

"I'm Maddie," she supplied. His head bobbed in agreement and his eyes flashed with embarrassment.

"I would have remembered it.. eventually." Maddie laughed at this and told him not to worry - people forgot her name all the time. They continued their conversation for a long while, and she felt it necessary to add one detail she had been harbouring since she recognized him.

"So, kinda funny that we would both end up here again," she chuckled. He shook his head with disagreement. Oh no - had she offended him somehow? She remembered that he was very temperamental.

"I work here." Bells dinged in her head. _Duh - he was the one who checked us in, the girl with the purple bow must have been his little sister._ Her cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment at forgetting such an obvious detail. She apologized profusely, but he just shrugged it off.

"So, does your family own this place now?" She decided to ask, though she thought she already knew the answer. Again she was received with a shake of the head. _So - his parents didn't buy the place? Then why is he working here?_ Before she could ask, he supplied the answer.

"My family works here for room and board, and of course free access to the slopes. We are the caretakers of sorts. The lodge was purchased by a friend of my father, and he allowed it." Embarrassment laced his voice. This answered her question - well almost. She still didn't know who exactly owned the place.

"S-So who does own the resort?" Her voice was shaky. She didn't know if she was prying too far into personal matters or not. To her relief, he answered her without much hesitation.

"The resort is now owned by the Edelstein family." he said matter-of-factly. Her eyes grew wide in surprise and realization. Vash's family may not have owned the place, but she knew the family that did, or at least one of them.

"You mean, Roderich's family?" She ventured. To her relief, he nodded, and a slight pink tinged his ears. _So that was why he had mentioned him when he first recognized me, Roderich must be working here too._ She leaned back in thought, but was interrupted by his stern voice.

"If you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to." She replied with a quick 'of course' and he swept from her view. _So, Roderich's family owns this place now._ She wondered if she would see him during her week there. Surely, he was a worthy adversary to race - it was him who had helped her learn the basics all those years ago. She was reclined with her eyes shut for quite some time, thoughts racing through her head on who else she would meet during the week. The possibility of finding many new and interesting people thrilled her. Maddie fluttered her eyes open and glanced at the clock, it read 7:45.

She decided she had warmed by the fire long enough, as her conversation with Vash had lasted some time, and lifted herself from the comfort of the recliner. By then, many tired skiers and snowboarders had accumulated in the room, and she was more than willing to surrender her chair to someone more in need of it. Many eyes strained towards the chair she had just vacated, as well as a pair on Maddie herself. The spot was quickly claimed by a tall Greek man, who promptly dozed off in its comfort. Stretching, she lazily made her way back up the stairwell, stopping half-way up to check out some posters that caught her attention. When she reached the top of the stairs, she was dragging her slippered feet across the floor, leaving small trails of mussed carpet behind her.

Alfred was napping on the couch, and their father was still sipping at a cup of tea. She entered the room and gave her father a quick nod. The room was silent, save for Alfred's loud snoring. They never knew why they tried to keep quiet while Alfred was asleep, he was a heavy sleeper anyways. Despite that fact, they both stayed silent, and Maddie moved towards the room where her bed was. The sky was fully darkened by that point, and the chill of the night was creeping into the building. As she grabbed a novel from her bag, she heard her father starting the fire. _His cooking may suck,_ she thought, _but he has good sense of what his children are in need of._

She smiled and returned to the main area, book in hand. Again she flopped herself on a chair near a warm fire, this time reading instead of conversing with an old - friend? She didn't know if she would consider them friends, but she knew he didn't hate her, or he wouldn't have been talking to her. Perhaps his hostility towards others was just his personality, and not directly related to who he was talking to. She never really did understand teenage boys - except Alfred, but he was pretty easy to read.

Unlike the book in front of her, Alfred was loud and not very complex, and in her growing drowsiness the words and sentences in front of her eyes began to blend together. Funny - she hadn't felt all that tired downstairs. Holding the book close to her face, she too slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

Maybe she and Alfred were more alike than she had originally believed.

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Alright! I hope you enjoyed it. This is a slightly shorter chapter, but it's got some interesting dialogue I believe. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!


	4. Four: My Confidence is Shaken

**Author's Note: **Surprise, another chapter! Why so soon, you ask? Well.. I would like to thank you all for your support and tips (a writer can always improve), and I was so excited to keep writing that I finished this chapter fairly quickly (it also helps that it's a long weekend, eh?). I'd also like to clarify a few things. The P.O.V. of this story is Third Person Limited, alternating between the characters of Ivan and Maddie. Consequently, we have not seen Ivan's character from the outside-looking-in yet, and therefore we have only seen him as he sees himself. Yes, I have been struggling with adding in his more cheerful disposition so far, as I believe he would be fairly grumpy when forced to be outside in the winter. But, I assure you that your tips have been taken to heart and as the story progresses and conflict emerges, I will be shedding light on some of the character's deeper personality traits. That being said, I appreciate any input you guys may have that can help to improve the portrayal of the characters/pace of the plot (which will be picking up from here-on out) or even character cameos that you would like to see! Thanks to all your help, I like this chapter the most so far and I hope you all enjoy it!

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He had been watching, without her knowledge, and without her consent.

Fresh mug of hot chocolate settled between his chilled hands, he caught a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision. Knowing that this new person would be looking for somewhere to sit, he prepared himself to glare daggers at whoever they were. No one would be occupying the second space of the love seat except his own feet. His head tipped in the direction from which he had seen the movement, eyes gleaming with all the fierceness his tired body could muster. His energy was wasted, however - the person wasn't even considering the place where his feet rested. Ivan let himself relax back into the sofa with a smile spread across his lips.

At first, he had thought the person slipping past him was the boy he had raced earlier. _Didn't he say his name was Alfred?_ The face looked vaguely familiar and the body was slender, however, he was quick to notice the differences between Alfred and the person flopped on the recliner a short distance away from himself. First and foremost: this person was female. While the boy had been tall and solidly built, the girl before him was slight. Her thin frame was draped in an over sized sweater and pajama bottoms - androgynous dress, but definitely female. Her face carried the same shining eyes that the boy had (though they were tinged a warm violet instead of the bright blue), but her features were softer and not taught with adrenaline as his had been.

Her overall aura lacked threat, and yet - hadn't the boy said she was the best skier he knew? Ivan almost giggled at the thought. This girl was no threat to him, he could tell that just by looking at her. There was no visible sign that betrayed her shield of calm kindness. Her strawberry blonde hair clung to her rounded face and he could see her studying the others in the room. Sensing she would look his way soon, he turned his attention back to the beverage cooling in his hands. As he drew out a long sip, though, he noticed her eyes were fixated on a blonde boy on the other side of the hearth.

So, he continued to watch, and continued to listen, with surprising ease. The two blondes were conversing openly, and intently, so they were not aware of his eavesdropping presence. Even when he shifted his position for comfort, they did not so much as glance in his direction. Not used to being so absolutely invisible, Ivan was intrigued, as much of the time, he was trying to disappear to his sisters. At that point, he had easily slipped into the shadows and was observing the conversation of two perfect strangers.

He listened to them talk of the past. He listened to them speak of common friends. He listened to their discussion on the ownership of the resort. He listened to the boy's continuing tone of disinterest. He listened to the girl's quiet, watery voice, which almost seemed to disappear under the rising wave of chatter in the room. He listened, he listened, and he only listened.

_How wonderful it feels to just listen, and not have to do any talking. _He decided he quite liked hearing people talk without knowing there was someone uninvited listening, as people showed emotion more clearly with their guard down. _It is much easier to tell the true nature of someone by listening to the inflections in their voice rather than just their words._ This realization warmed his insides almost as much as the heat from the fire. Unfortunately, the end of their chat came much too soon. He was being lulled by the flow of their conversation, but when the boy excused himself to leave, Ivan was suddenly pulled from his state of bliss.

He had been so involved in the discussion that, when it ended, he was left a bit disoriented. It took a moment for him to remember exactly what he had been doing. Seeing Alfred's sister rise from her chair, he was quickly snapped back to reality. _I am in the lounge; I was listening to a conversation between strangers; I am drinking hot chocolate._ He glanced down at the mug as the small girl passed, and stared dejectedly. _Correction: I __was_ _drinking hot chocolate._ Perhaps if he waited long enough, the dry cup would fill itself up with more of the sweet beverage. Unfortunately, the world does not work like that.

Ivan sighed. He contemplated if another cup was worth relenting his comfortable position on the plush love seat in front of the warm fireplace. He promptly decided that it was not, and would retain his prime location for a while longer, if only a few minutes. He leaned backwards in to the soft cushions behind his back with a smile upturning the corners of his mouth. His thoughts drifted from the embers of the fire, to the warmth of his bed at home, to the cold of the bed upstairs that awaited him, and to the two - possibly impatient - women that awaited him as well. Unwillingly, his body began to lead him out of the lounge and into the hallway where the elevator was.

Mind still buzzing from his prior activities, he slowly shuffled out of the bustle of the lounge and into the serene silence of the corridor. It was almost too quiet, but that familiar ding broke the stillness in the air. He wouldn't need to wait for the lift, it was already there. As a few people with wind-chapped faces passed him, Ivan allowed his body to pull him into the empty elevator. He pressed the floor button and waited for the door to slide shut. It began with a delay, and slowly slid further closed before stopping suddenly. At first, he thought someone had stopped it with their hand so they could catch it as well. However, when the door just stood there, ajar, he realized what had happened.

_It's stuck. The elevator door is stuck. _As minor as the glitch was, it still irritated him. He would have to squeeze out the opening and take the stairs, all while trying to avoid being seen and subsequently blamed for the broken elevator. He positioned himself in front of the door to study the space which he had to escape through more closely. It was about a foot in width, maybe less - a tight squeeze, but he knew he could pull it off. He tried to pull the door back further so to make the gap wider, but it did not budge. Resigned to the prospect of squishing through the opening, he stepped his booted foot out into the hall first. Next came his right shoulder and arm, then his head. He pulled his chest through and sucked in his stomach. Squeezing through, he pulled his left leg out last and inhaled deeply. Anyone who had seen the large man pulling himself through the opening would have laughed at the sight, but no one had.

In one piece and with the euphoric smile returning to his face, he walked towards the stairs and began to climb. The stairwell was cold, damp, and dimly lit. Various posters covered older ones which coated the walls. While making his way up the flights, he paused to look at a few. One was fairly new, as the corners had not yet curled inwards. It advertised an upcoming junior ski competition at the resort, and was dated for that coming Saturday. Ivan's eyes were immediately glinted with fervor, as he envisioned himself beating all the other competitors. He may not have liked skiing, but he never passed up on opportunity to win at the expense of others. Taking the pen that dangled by a string in his hands, he jotted his name on the sign-up sheet beside the poster without apprehension.

Smirking to himself, he began to climb the stairs once again, but a vision flashed into his mind that jerked him to a halt. The first name that was signed had been _Maddie Kirkland_, in slanted handwriting_._ He had been so sure he would win, but Alfred's words from earlier that day threw him off. _He said his sister was good, but she doesn't seem that threatening._ Insecurity began to gnaw at his insides and he exited the stairwell with a furrow in his brow. He would just have to wait until Saturday to find out if the girl was as good as her brother claimed. Ivan cleared his face of all emotion, and unlocked their door. He slipped in without much noise, but his movement caught the eye of his older sister.

"You're back! We've been waiting Ivan, Natalya only fell once or twice after you left. Isn't that great? You taught her so well brother! I'm proud of you!" She immediately began to ramble, and he tuned her out, nodding every so often so to not give away his inattentiveness. She continued and he began to watch his little sister out of the corner of his eye. She was clinging to the back of the couch, facing him. It seemed she was contemplating whether or not to jump on him. Before she could make any movement, he shuffled towards the kitchen to rinse out his mug. Natalya sunk down onto the couch in low spirits, disappearing behind its large back.

"I heard there is a ski competition this Saturday. Ivan, you should sign up! And if you don't, I'm definitely signing you up." Most of the time, Katyusha's ramblings did not interest him, but the mention of the contest made him grin.

"I have already signed myself up, sister." His confession was met with a squeal of delight from the tall woman. He knew she took it as an admittance to his "love" of winter, but he did not have the energy to correct her misunderstanding.

"Oh, Ivan! I'm so excited! You're sure to win." She embraced him and held on tight, looping her arms around his large frame. He did not resist, but he did not return the gesture either. After a moment she pulled away, a wide smile on her face. The corners of his mouth lifted with delight. _Yes, I am sure to win._ "We will have to train you extra hard for this, brother." Katyusha's voice pulled him from his fanatic thoughts, and erased the smirk from his face.

"Train?" He didn't want to believe it. "Sister, I do not need to train!" He was already good enough as it is. She would have none of it, and was shaking her head.

"We'll start first thing tomorrow! Don't worry, it will be so much fun that you won't even realize it's work!" She was dead-set on her plan, and with his falling energy level, he could not argue. Instead he emitted a noise of disapproval and turned to his bedroom. He was badly in need of rest, and even though it was not that late, he could not resist the call of sleep much longer. He uttered a half-hearted "goodnight" and disappeared into the room. Katyusha frowned, but called out anyways, "I'll wake you in the morning!" A great thud sounded from the room, but the two sisters paid no attention, and continued with what they had been doing before Ivan had returned.

With his eyes fixated on the ceiling, Ivan cursed internally. He should have known that if he signed up for the competition, his sisters would make him train. He supposed he would have to come up with an excuse - fake some minor injury that would prevent him from going out in the next few days, but would be "healed" by the time Saturday came around. There was no way he would pass up an opportunity to win, even if it was in the biting cold of winter. He remained laying on the bed, but kicked off his boots. Inching towards the pillows, he could almost feel the redeeming rest that sleep would bring, and he crawled beneath the stiff covers of the starchy bed. Before long, he was drifting off to sleep.

_The world is painted a pale, ghostly white, and snow is swirling all around him. He cannot distinguish between ground and sky; there is no horizon. The chill of the air leaves his exposed skin numb._

_He is breathing heavily, but the mist of breath disappears instantly. It leaves no trace of existence except tiny crystals that bead his scarf._

_He is calling out for someone, anyone, but his voice is hoarse. No sound is reaching his ears, as it is immediately carried away by the driving wind. He is yelling for quite some time, but no one is there to hear him._

_He is trudging through rolling snow-dunes and watching for a glimpse of anything but the complete whiteness that blankets the world. He finds that the further he walks, the more his legs seem to disappear beneath the enormous snow drifts. He stops walking and tightens his long scarf around his face, dropping to the frozen ground._

_As the wind whips at him, raw, red patches begin to spread over the exposed flesh of his cheeks. He lifts his gloved hand to press its leather surface to his face. The contact is a shock, and his eyes begin to sting with water._

_The temperature is dropping as darkness begins to settle. The leaking of his eyes is solidifying quickly, and he panics. He tries to jump to his feet but finds that his body is covered by a growing mound of snow._

_He attempts to open his watery eyes, but they are frozen shut. The realization causes more fluid to escape beneath his lashes, and adds to the ice._

_Desperately, he begins to swipe the snow away with his arms, but the effort is futile. The more snow he sweeps away, the more piles up around his trapped body._

_He digs his fingertips into the fabric of his collar, searching for a solution in his mind. He does the only thing his instinct tells him to: pull himself up. He brings his arms up above the snow crowding his chest, and flattens two spots for his hands. He begins to push downwards with all his strength but his body does not move. Frantically, he presses down again and again with increasing vigour, but to no avail._

_The snow has reached his shoulders now. A breath hitches in his throat and he begins to choke back tears._

_With all his might, he tries one last time to pull himself out of the growing snow drift that encases his body, but he finds that it has solidified into ice. With his eyes still glued shut, he runs his hand along the surface in front of him. It is perfectly solid and another sob is caught in his throat._

_The ice level is rising, and he begins to breathe heavily on it in an attempt at melting. He quickly becomes out of breath and dizzy. He falls into a frenzied state, and his mind is reeling._

_A watery voice penetrates his state of delirium, but he can feel the ice stabbing at his cheek. As the voice draws nearer, the ice begins to close around the crown of his head; his eyes are pointed upward to the sky. The final crack of the ice seals itself above his skull._

_Through his frozen eyelids, he can sense a darkness looming over his trapped body. Slowly, the icy glue that binds his eyelids dissipates, and his eyes become unstuck. Cautiously, he pries them open with weak muscles and glimpses the figure laughing down at him._

_The last thing he remembers seeing is a wicked smile drawn across straight white teeth, and a flash of strawberry blonde._

He awoke with a jolt, and found himself covered in a thin layer of cold sweat. A lingering hint of delirium remained from his dream, and he was shivering. He rolled his body over to catch sight of the clock that rested on the night table beside the bed. It read 1:54, and he blinked his eyes to adjust to its red glow. The light it emitted was minimal, but it accentuated a pounding headache that had been hiding itself beneath the shivers and sweat. Ivan pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingertips, but found that they were near ice-cold.

Shifting on his back, be brought both hands up to his face and attempted to warm them with his breath. He could not tell in the darkness, but the pale flesh of his palms was tinged a slight shade of light blue. Finding comfort in the heat of his own breath, his muscles relented their tension. As the chill that seized his body began to subside, he began to drift again, this time into a fitful, dreamless sleep. There was no driving snow. There was no rising ice. There was only darkness.

He remained like that for several hours, tossing and turning restlessly in his slumber. Every once in a while, a breath would hitch in his throat, but would quickly dissolve. The disturbances in his sleep grew further apart as morning approached. By the time that the first panes of light crept into the room, he had been laying perfectly still for nearly a half-hour. Unaware of her brother's unpleasant night, Katyusha bounced in with a grin plastered on her face. She had decided to wake him.

"IIIvvvaaaaannn, dear brother. It's time to wake up! Your training starts today." He was drowsily pulled from his sleep by her warm voice, and grunted to signify that he was awake. Satisfied, she turned to leave, but not before adding, "I have prepared breakfast, if you're interested." A loud, drawn-out rumble escaped his abdomen. Struggling against an ice prison in his dreams had worked up a considerable appetite in him. Slowly, he lifted his body into a sitting position and shoved the scratchy covers off his lower half. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and found the ground with his feet.

There was a delicious scent drifting past his nose, and he quickly made his way towards it, despite the head-rush that came instantly with his rise from the bed. The smell was irresistible, and he settled down in one of the hard chairs circling the kitchen table. A plate covered in food was set in front of him, and he immediately brought a fork-full to his lips. The taste swept over his tongue and he chewed slowly, savouring the first bite. Though the taste was something to be appreciated, another grumble from his stomach prompted Ivan to scarf down the rest of the plate. When he finished, he took a long gulp of water and wiped his chin.

He rose to his feet and Katyusha called to him, "Now go get changed." He turned in to the bedroom. The slight glow of light had by then been replaced with a much brighter one. He glanced to the window to see what kind of day he would be facing. Pulling the blinds upwards, a gasp escaped his lips and a widespread pain washed over his body.

"Sister, I don't think we should go out today." He braced himself against the wall for support. She came bouncing in to question him, but he only pointed out the glass. Her eyes darted from the hunched figure of the large man to the light of the window, and she too let out a short breath of surprise.

The world was painted a pale, ghostly white, and snow was swirling about as if it were in a frenzy. She could not distinguish between ground and sky; there was no horizon.

They had been caught at the resort in the middle of a violent snow storm.

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Aaand the plot (finally) thickens! Maddie and Ivan have been in mutual company a couple times now (cookies to the person who remembers the first time). Next chapter, they finally meet face-to-face! Ivan (being inside away from the cold) is a bit cheerier now, da? I think my favourite part to write was the dream sequence, even if it reflects the darker, more depressed side of his personality (and god knows how much I love sugar-sweet Ivan). So, what did you all think.. better/worse? Don't forget to review!


	5. Five: My Nerve is Unsettled

**Author's Note:** Woah! Extra-long chapter. I have been super busy with a killer english project (oh the frustrations of technology) so I would have revised this more, but I think it's fine as it is. Holy man, it's what you've all been waiting for! I hope you all enjoy it!  
P.S. Is anyone else super-excited for TURKEY to appear in the show? I love when they bring "new" characters to the anime. I'm waiting for the day they finally bring in _all_ the nordics. (Damn, how I love me some Scandinavia.)

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Drifting in to consciousness, Maddie became painfully aware of the damp chill that hung in the air. The cold seeped through the thick blankets and washed over her skin, prickling the hairs on her arm into clusters of goosebumps. Sleepily, she drew her knees up to meet her chin, and wrapped her thin arms around the width of her legs. She lay half-asleep in the fetal position, clinging to the body heat she still had. The covers offered no salvation from the freezing air.

Slowly, the heat from her breath began to wipe away the goosebumps from her pale skin, and the shiver that rocked her entire body faded as well. With her new found warmth, she ventured a shift in sleeping position that would offer more comfort. She rolled over to her other side, and faced the side table. With a yawn, she attempted to fall back to sleep, despite the chill that still remained in the room. As her eyes fluttered shut and her mind began to meander. A soft knock at the door snapped her back to consciousness.

Her eyes opened unwillingly as her father entered quietly, and he shut the crooked door behind him. She watched as he made his way over to the side of her bed and knelt next to her. Though her mind was still clouded with sleep, she could tell something was bothering him. His face was tightened with concern, and deep wrinkles crossed the length of his forehead. His eyes were focused upon her as the corners of his mouth twitched with apprehension. Her voice came out groggy and rough.

"Dad, what's wrong?" His eyes immediately darted to the ground and his lips became only a thin line on his face. He paused a moment, and then sighed. Rising to his feet, he glanced out the window.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I think we will be heading home today." Her eyes grew wide in disbelief, and her sleepy state washed away in an instant. She opened her mouth to object, but all she could manage to muster was a weak 'why'. His answer was simple.

"Blizzard." He gestured weakly out the window behind her. She turned over in the bed to look at the world outside, but all she could see was white. Her mouth hung open in astonishment, and she suddenly felt chilled again. Snow was fine, but a blizzard was definitely _not_ cool with her."It started as a heavy snow. I guess it turned in to this overnight. I have no idea how long it will last, but I think we should leave as soon as possible, before it's too late." She didn't even stop to consider the notion, and responded with instinct.

"No! We can't leave yet, we just got here. I'll bet it's just a passing storm." She said defiantly. "It will be all cleared up by this afternoon, I swear!" She looked to her father for a sign of reconsideration, but his face was solid. "Please, dad. We never get to go on vacations, the last time we did was right after mom left!" She felt slightly guilty about using emotion against him, but it was true that they never had time for vacations since he had taken extra hours at work to support the family. She clung onto his shoulders in desperation and begged him with her eyes. His expression of stone finally cracked and he nodded hesitantly.

"If you believe it will pass, then so do I. We don't want a wasted trip, now do we?" A smile warmed his face. Maddie jumped in excitement, as their trip was not over yet. "Get dressed now, we'll go have breakfast downstairs. I'll go wake Alfred, he's still asleep on the couch." It was at that moment that she realized she had been sleeping in the bedroom. _Didn't I fall asleep on the couch?_ A moment of confusion consumed her. She flicked her attention to the side table. Her novel lay beside the clock with a bookmark peeking out of the top. She picked it up and flipped to the page it rested in. _Right where I left it. Dad must have carried me in here after I fell asleep._ She smiled and decided she had the best dad in the world, despite his lack of culinary skill.

She dressed in a hurry, and headed towards the kitchen area. From behind the table, she could see Alfred stretching on the couch. His arms were tensed and his hands were curled into tight fists; his mouth was wide in a yawn. She laughed out loud and his head shot around to glare at her. "Oh, like you've never been tired before, Maddie!" He rose to his feet. She made her way to the door and slipped on her shoes, and Alfred did the same. She looked at him and took in what he was wearing. He had a black t-shirt on and blue plaid pyjama bottoms.

"Aren't you going to change?" She asked flatly, though she knew he didn't really mind being in public dressed like he just crawled out of bed. According to him, no one payed attention to what a hero wears, as they are so grateful for being saved. He just shook his head and laughed while pulling on his bomber jacket. She shrugged as their father appeared from his bedroom. They were all congregated at the door for a moment.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" He ushered the two teens out and locked the door behind himself. The silence of the early morning was evident in the halls. While a storm whipped outside, all was still in the corridor. Maddie again shrugged and made a movement to the elevator, the others following suit. As she approached it however, she could make out a sign posted on its door. None of the lights surrounding the entrance glowed with their usual colours. When she was near enough to see the sign, she read it aloud.

"We apologize for the inconvenience, but the elevator will be out of order until further notice. Thank you for your patience." It was signed and marked with the official resort logo. She looked back at her brother and father before pointing down the hall. "I guess we'll take the stairs." Alfred began to comment on how easily he could take flights of stairs, but it was stifled by another yawn. "I'll show you a cool poster along the way, Alfred." He silenced his yawn and faced her.

"Is it awesome like me?" She rolled her eyes humourously and climbed down in to the stairwell. She quickly descended, the others again following her. About half-way down, she stopped and pointed at a poster advertising a ski competition. Their father continued down, promising to get a table, and Alfred's face scrunched as he read.

"So if this storm clears up in time, you think they'll keep it on?" She nodded hopefully. "Do they allow snowboarders?" Again she nodded. His eyes lit up in anticipation. "I'm definitely signing up then!" He picked up the pen that dangled beside the sign-up sheet and began to fill his name in an empty space. When he finished, his eyes darted over the other names on the sheet. His glance narrowed.

"I'll beat that guy this time," he exclaimed as he pointed at one of the names. Maddie moved to read what it said. She guessed it was the kid that had beaten Alfred the day before. He began jumping in excitement as she read.

"Ivan Braginski, you just met your match." She smirked and again began to descend down the stairs. Alfred hurried behind her, still excited.

"Not if I knock him out of the contest first! It's organized in pairs, right? Well if I get matched up with him, he's going down." Sometimes, her brother's determination baffled her. But, most of the time, it just amused her. He was certainly one of a kind, and she couldn't help but love him for it.

They found their way downstairs and into the restaurant. Maddie marveled at how empty it was, and easily spotted their father talking with a waiter. She pulled Alfred along and sat down in the booth he had chosen. The waiter placed a menu in front of each of them and left without a word. Alfred eagerly picked it up and began scanning through it, and their father carefully lifted his eyes to both of them.

"Waiter says about half the lodge cleared out last night before the storm got too bad. All the roads leading up here are closed. I guess even if we tried to leave, we wouldn't have made it that far." Alfred's face was revealed as he dropped his menu on the table. Maddie sat wide-eyed and her mouth hung open slightly. "They suppose the storm will last a few days, but it should be cleared by Friday." Her mouth snapped shut in relief, and Alfred again picked up his menu, searching for his would-be breakfast.

Breakfast went quite smoothly - despite Alfred dripping his syrup everywhere. He claimed the divots in waffles were just there to pool the syrup so it dripped all over you when you took a bite, their father disagreed, and Maddie hungrily ate her pancakes while the two bickered. By the time they finished eating, the room had a few more guests eating at the tables throughout it. They discussed what their plans were for the day as they waited for the bill. Their father was going to pass the time by reading upstairs (he hoped he would be alone and in peace), and Alfred said he was going to check out the rec room. He dragged Maddie along with him after much debate between the two of them, while their father stayed to pay before heading out himself.

As they entered the large room, Maddie noticed just how empty the resort was. Not counting the people in the restaurant, or any staff, they had not seen anyone. She wondered just how many people were left in the lodge as Alfred set up for a game of pool. Reluctantly, she picked up a pool cue and settled it between her palms. Alfred took the first crack, but her eyes were fixed out the window. He had to poke her for her to acknowledge that it was her turn, and she took a distracted, ineffective shot.

"C'mon, Maddie! You have to actually try, otherwise I'll crush you into dust." He prodded at her again with the pool cue before taking another shot himself. She chuckled and voiced a quick 'fine', and then lined up for her first real shot. The cue ball easily clacked in to a red one and sent it in to the corner pocket. "Now, that's more like it!" Alfred was pleased. As their game continued, each player got more into it. A few people filtered in to watch and they neared the end. Alfred confidently sank in the last ball, and cried out in victory.

"Yes!" His eyes gleamed with delight and Maddie laughed. She congratulated him and he reassured her, "Don't worry, you were a 'worthy opponent' but no match for a hero!" She rolled her eyes and made her way to the couch to sit for a while, as her feet were already tired. Alfred called out for another challenger from the few people in the room. His eyes narrowed on a face that stood above the rest.

"You may have beaten me outside yesterday, but I am the master at pool!" Maddie glanced in the direction where her brother was facing and knew that it must be Ivan. Her eyes widened. _So, he wasn't exaggerating!_ She saw that he was indeed about 6'4 or taller, and probably well over 200 pounds. His body was thick, though it was covered with a large coat and a long scarf. She didn't quite know why he was wearing outside clothes - it wasn't that cold in the room. At the challenge, his violet eyes glinted. She noted the swiftness in his step that was contrary to what anyone who saw him would expect. He seemed confident, but not cocky, and had a wide grin painted on his face. Despite his strong appearance, Maddie still thought she could beat him.

As he approached the table, the light above her head gave a small flicker. Alfred collected the sunken balls from the table's pockets and Ivan eyed him, same smile still shaping his mouth. Outside, the wind picked up and snow began to pelt the frozen window. Little crystals began to form on the glass surface where the flakes had melted and then quickly refrozen. Alfred wrangled the coloured spheres with a worn wooden rack and slid the triangle to its starting position, his eyes never leaving the tall man before him. He lifted the frame and gestured for Ivan to take up a cue stick.

Ivan gently lifted his cue and brought it beside himself. "Eight-ball, I'm guessing." His voice was strong, but subtle. Alfred nodded vehemently. "You start." Alfred jumped at the opportunity, and circled the table once before leaning over to take his first shot. He delicately lined up his cue with the white ball, and drew his arm back, ready to shoot.

In that moment, several things happened: First, someone on the other side of the room sneezed, second, Alfred's shot was thrown off by the sudden disturbance of silence, third, his pool cue slipped awkwardly past the cue ball, and sent it careening off to the side, and fourth, the lights extinguished.

The wind outside had picked up considerably, and violent tremors shook the power lines. The sky darkened from cloud cover and the snow fell in sporadic clusters. Maddie sat dumbfounded in the dark, marveling at the coincidence. Just as Alfred had moved to make his shot, the power went out. Several groans filled the room, and a child cried out softly for his mother. Maddie looked over to Alfred who seemed just as perplexed at the blackout. Only Ivan appeared not to be phased by the sudden change in lighting.

"It looks as though we will have to continue this some other time." He reasoned, and moved to the soft couch to sit. Maddie subconsciously brought her body into defensive position as he approached the sofa. With a smile that seemed genuine, he settled onto the far side of it, and she glanced at him. He extended his large hand to her and she warily brought her own to meet it. "Your brother has told me you are a great skier. I hope this blizzard clears out and we get a chance to race on Saturday."

As he spoke, all she could focus on was the size difference between their hands. His palm was almost large enough by itself to cover her entire hand. She nodded, a bit confused by the combination of darkness and the looming man before her. Despite his kind face, she could not help but feel a little intimidated, if only by the sheer size of him. She felt like a mouse beneath the feet of an elephant. He finally relinquished his grip on her, and she let her arm drop onto her lap.

With all the confidence she could muster, she spoke at last, "I'll be looking forward to it." For a moment all she could do was smile back at him, and the competitive glint returned to her eyes. _Now this is definitely a challenge,_ she thought. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted without warning.

A dark-haired man burst in to the room. He looked stressed and disheveled. A little piece of hair stuck up from his forehead and his glasses were falling down his face. He began to gesture with his arms and apologize to them. "I'm sorry everyone, the wind knocked down one of our main power lines. We have a back-up generator, but it will take a while for us to get it up and running as it is located outside the main builiding. Please everyone, make your way down to the lounge and wait by the fireplace. There should be someone there to explain everything to you." He wiped his face nervously and left in a hurry. Apparently, he still had more people to warn.

Maddie jumped up from the couch and ran to Alfred. She dragged him from the room and back towards the lounge and whispered in a hush. "Alfred, that was Roderich! His family owns this place now." He nodded emptily, and it was clear he had something on his mind. She chose not to prod him about it, and they followed the wave of people headed back to the lounge. From further back in the crowd, a large man with violet eyes was watching the two of them intently.

Though the fireplace was lit to warm the building, the inevitable cold still seeped in. Outside, the sky was still blended with the horizon, and the mountains in the distance were erased. The thick, driving snow allowed only a few metres of visibility. From the large window in the lounge, all that could be seen was white.

The lounge, while usually very large, felt very small at that moment. It was true that nearly half the visitors to the lodge had left, but nearly all the people who remained were crowded into the room. Alfred began to pull Maddie through clusters of people and found a cleared spot on the ground, not too far from the fire. She settled onto the floor, and his blue eyes were fixed on her. The look on his face was a mix of concern and worry. She was slightly taken aback by his sudden personality change. Alfred had always been happy, easygoing, and just a little bit cocky, but in that moment the aura he gave off was anything but. His face was tight with concentration, and even if she could, she would not have dared to speak a word. His face broke from his thoughts and he started to speak.

"You stay right here, I'm going to find Dad." She opened her mouth to protest, as she knew he would not be able to make his way back through the growing crowd if he left, but no sound came out. Before she could attempt again, he had already gone. _I have to get better at speaking my mind._ She strained her eyes around the crowd to catch a glimpse of him, but her eyes did not meet his familiar blue ones. Instead, they found a pair that looked just like her own. They were violet, and warmed at the corners by a slight smile. Unlike Alfred's had been, those eyes were not shadowed by worry, but they carried a feeling of reassurance. She glanced down at her hands and began to reason. _There must be some way for Alfred and Dad to get to me through this crowd._ As she became buried in thought, she did not notice a familiar body settle on the floor beside her.

In her pensive state, her eyes were blankly focused out the window. She wondered what had triggered such a sudden personality change in her brother. He was always laid-back and care-free, but the serious look in his eyes when he told her to stay put unsettled Maddie. _It's not like the snow is going to kill me, I'm inside,_ she reasoned to herself. There must have been something deeper going on in his mind to give him an expression of that much concern.

"Where did your brother go?" The shock of a voice so close pulled her from her thoughts. She had a confused look on her face as she turned towards the mysterious voice. She jumped a little when she recognized him.

Ivan's violet eyes were staring down at her, and it would be a lie to say she wasn't intimidated. She wrapped her arms around her knees and fixed her gaze on the floor. She hadn't even noticed someone sit down beside her. _How did I miss someone that big?_ She marveled at her own obliviousness before replying to his question. "Alfred went to find our dad," she answered simply. She could see his head bob in satisfaction from the corner of her eye, but it stopped a split second later.

"Isn't that your father right there?" he asked, gesturing a distance in front of them. "If not, he looks an awful lot like you." Maddie straightened up to see who he had been pointing at. Through the crowd, she could see his light, tousled hair and thick eyebrows - yes, it was her father. Her eyes lit up in delight as she searched behind him for a sign of Alfred, and frowned when she could not spot him. She rose to her feet and rushed towards her dad, completely forgetting about the boy she had been conversing with. A look of worry stretched across her face as she approached him and his arms curled around her.

"There you are," she said with relief, "did Alfred find you upstairs?" She could feel her father's body tighten within the embrace. He pulled backwards and studied her face before speaking.

"No, I haven't seen him since breakfast. Wasn't he with you?" A pang of panic hit her and she shook her head.

"He said he was going upstairs to find you!" It was then that she knew something was not right. She had a feeling that something was not right when the joyful light in her brother's eyes had been replaced by one of concern. It was true that he could have easily been in the bathroom, or missed their father coming down the stairs as he went up, but he would have been back by then. She brought her eyes up to meet her father's and winced when she realized that his eyes carried the same worry that hers did at that point.

Determination clouding his eyes, Alfred had disappeared from the mob of people crowding the lounge, and left no clue as to where he had really gone. With his hands on her shoulders, her father began to speak in a serious tone. "You stay right here, I am going to see if I can find where the boy went off to. I'll be back in a few minutes." Without another word, he left her there with her mouth hung open in protest._ I really have to get better at speaking my mind,_ she mentally chastised herself again.

Circling to reclaim her original spot on the floor, she jumped when she spotted the large man still sitting there. She had completely forgotten that they had been speaking. Slightly embarrassed at her forgetfulness, she silently sat down next to the boy and clutched her knees for warmth.

"So, that was your father?" She faced him, slightly taken aback at his bluntness. He didn't know her, yet he was being so open and friendly. All those years of being semi-invisible to the people around her had let Maddie forget how to open herself to others. Wordlessly, she nodded and dropped her eyes. A light giggle was emitted from the boy's throat, and it unsettled her. _How does a guy that big have a voice that child-like?_ She decided it was her turn to ask a question.

"So, you beat Alfred down the hill yesterday?" The words escaped her lips before she could stop herself. Another laugh from the large man made her regret her lack of verbal control. She was either too hesitant to speak her mind or too blunt with her words. She looked up to meet his eyes and he replied.

"Yes, and I am sure that I can beat you without much trouble either." There was no shake in his voice that revealed his true feelings. Maddie shifted back in astonishment.

"Excuse me? You don't even know me! I could be a world-champion skier for all you know!" The sly insult had ignited something within her. She took to defending her pride despite of the boy's intimidating size settled next to her.

"But _are_ you?" His words made her falter. He had seen through her façade, but she would not be taken down so easily.

"Neither are you! Believe me, if you were, I think everyone would know." His eyes narrowed, and she was satisfied. She had held her own against the giant, and come out of it mentally unscathed.

Letting out a slight chuckle, she returned her gaze to the floor in front of her. She could already tell that Ivan was the rival she had been searching for, and it was only a matter of time before they could have their little competition. Now, if only the damn blizzard would clear out.

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Awesome/not awesome? Become one y/y? Tell me what you think!  
And now for some (possible) news...  
Since I enjoyed writing the dream sequence from last chapter so much, I have been thinking. So, my dear readers, what would you think if I started a side-project (to be updated whenever I feel inspired) series of one-shots revolving around each nation-tan's worst nightmare, and most beautiful dream?  
Thank you for reading!


	6. Six: My Actions are Unnatural

**Author's Note:** Chapter Six: My Actions are Unnatural, A.K.A. - Your Brother is an Idiot. Early update! Since I love you guys so much (and because I won't be home until Friday afternoon), I did some heavy editing yesterday and today to perfect this chapter. There is a distinct recurring theme in today's chapter, if you guess it, you get a cookie (or any other sugary treat you-so desire.) Enjoy! =]

P.S. I LOVE TURKEY. He was so epic in ep. 55

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Ivan had to admit that when he sat down next to the girl to study her closer, he hadn't expected such a sharp tongue from her. When her pride was threatened, she seemed to respond like any normal person would, but because of her kind appearance, the whole situation had caught him off guard. Again, a twinge of insecurity rippled through his insides, but he shook it off in haste. Leaning farther backwards, he took in her appearance.

She was not dressed in the over-sized red sweater this time, and it was more obvious than before that her body was delicately feminine. As she sat with her arms nestled around her legs and her chin cradled between her knees, he couldn't help but stare. He wondered how such a shy girl could possibly have any athletic prowess - but then again, maybe she wasn't as shy as her mannerisms let show. When provoked, it was clear that she had no trouble speaking her mind.

_Such a complex creature, _he thought. He decided he would have to learn more about what made her tick before Saturday. Ignoring the raging storm outside, he started right then. "So, if that was your father, I am assuming he went to find your brother. But didn't you say your brother was trying to find him?" Maddie jumped at the question. Ivan let a smirk slight his lips, _she is so easily startled._ As she turned to him, he could almost see the fire in her eyes being extinguished by a wave of tears. There was a distinct mix of worry and sorrow lost in her violet eyes and he had to stop himself from showing an expression of surprise. He didn't expect that she would cry so easily, as he hadn't even said anything remotely insulting. With a small sniffle, she began to speak.

"Something is wrong, I can feel it." The tears in her eyes began to subside, instead replaced by a shadow of panic. "This blizzard has got everyone acting strange, and I'm afraid Alfred is going to do something reckless." Ivan didn't know what to do, so he fell to simple reassurance as he had to do so often with his own sisters.

"Surely they will be fine, I mean, it's not like he's going to freeze to death inside the building." He watched her to see if his attempt at reassurance had worked, but found that her eyes only opened in realization. With more worry in her voice than she had before, she began to near hyperventilation.

"No, that's exactly what's going to happen! Don't you see, Alfred's going to try and turn on the back-up generator all by himself!" Ivan just sat there in silence, but Maddie rose to her feet and began to head out of the room clumsily. "I'm going to stop him before he turns himself into a human Popsicle!" He grabbed her small hand and restrained her before she could take more than three steps. She tried to pull free from his grip, but he easily brought her backwards. She cried out in anger, but no one else in the room paid attention as the level of noise was loud enough to blend every sound into a dull roar.

"What are you doing? I have to stop him!" She again attempted to wrench herself free from his large hand, but he tightened his grip to calm her.

"Don't you think that's what your father is doing right now? I'm sure he will take care of it." He didn't quite understand what she was getting so worked up about, _People are plenty capable of taking care of themselves._ Maddie wore a look of surprise on her face.

"Alfred is not easily convinced. You don't know him. Don't you have any siblings?" Her voice was bubbling with anger, and the fire had returned to her eyes. He chose his words carefully.

"Yes," his eyes were narrowed in thought, "and my sisters care for me as much as you do for your brother. But, I would think he is plenty capable of taking care of himself." Though his words were reasonable, her dissatisfaction was apparent. She was ready to speak again, but a voice broke through the crowd.

"Quiet down, everybody!" Ivan recognized it as the boy who Maddie had been talking to the day before. "I know you are all a little confused, but I am here to clear things up. First, power to the lodge has been cut off by the blizzard and we have not been able to get the back-up generator running yet. Second, we will be asking you to bring the firewood from your rooms downstairs so we can keep the building warm. We will also be clearing portions of the lounge for people who wish to sleep downstairs, which we advise you all do to keep warm. Third, until we get the power going again, we advise that no one leaves the building for any reason or under any circumstances. And lastly, as most of you know, all the roads leading here have been closed for safety reasons, and no delivery trucks can make it up here. Therefore, we ask that all of you bring whatever food stores you may have to the kitchen, as we will be supplying free meals three times a day for all guests. Thank you for your co-operation." As he finished and the roar of noise in the room rose once more, Ivan noticed that he still had a grip on the girl's tiny hand. He let go.

They both stayed silent for a moment, but Maddie finally broke it in favour of finishing her thought from before. "Are your sisters here with you? Where are they?"

"As I said, they are plenty capable of taking care of themselves," he said simply. Maddie looked slightly surprised at his complacency.

"Aren't you the least bit worried about them?" Her fluid voice penetrated his state of calmness. He hadn't realized it, but some part of him, as far back in his mind as it was, was indeed concerned for their safety. After leaving their room following breakfast, he had not seen any trace of either Natalya or Katyusha, and they were usually all over him. The innocent questions of the small girl with strawberry blonde hair had awakened the protective side of his personality. He tried desperately to shove the feelings back into a corner of his mind, but found he didn't need to. Across the room, he could detect the familiar voices of his two sisters. The worry that had tried to consume him was quickly dissolved, and he turned to Maddie with a smile.

"No, I am not." She rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently.

"Well I am, and I'm going to go find my family." Hastily, she rose to her feet and began to move away through the crowd. But Ivan was not about to let a prime opportunity to study his competition go to waste. He followed after her, gently pushing clusters of people aside to make a path. As he trailed her, he made a mental list of some of her personality traits that he had already observed in the short time he had spent with her.

_Determined, angry when provoked, easily startled._ He would add more as they became apparent. He increased his pace to catch up with her before she reached the stairwell.

"Madeline, wait." As he passed the broken elevator, she whipped her head around to face him. Once more, she was wide-eyed in astonishment. He could not tell if it was due to the fact that he had been following her, or that someone called her by her full name.

"H-How do you know my name?" She stuttered as she spoke, and Ivan had to stifle a laugh. Her voice held more confidence the second time. "How. do. you. know. my. full. name?" Each word came out deliberately, as if challenging him to defy her question. His eyes snapped open to meet hers.

"I just guessed. But it is your name, da?" In his haste to explain, he accidentally let a hint of his Russian ethnicity slip out as he finished his sentence. Maddie's eyebrows raised in interest, but she did not comment. He felt a minute tinge of heat spill onto his cheeks and raised his hands in a slight fluster to re-adjust his scarf. He usually had no problem concealing his accent, so why had it slipped out then?

"With a name like Ivan, I should have guessed you were Russian!" A small laugh escaped from her lips, and the tension that hung in the air vanished. He felt himself relax back to normality, and she spoke again in her watery voice. "Well, are you going to help me find him or not?" She stood with her hands on her hips, and an impatience covered her face. _How did I get myself into this?_ He decided it would be best to go along with whatever plan she had, as he could observe her train of thought more easily that way.

"Yes, I suppose I will." His reply was greeted with a nod of approval, and she looked up at him for a moment. He could tell that she was studying his face, but he did not know why. Unsure of what to do, he just stared right back at her. When his eyes fixated on her, she flicked her attention elsewhere. He noticed a light flush on her cheeks and added another item to his mental list: _easily embarrassed._ His mission was already proving fruitful. After a moment, she spun back with a look of determination on her face.

"Okay, here's the plan: We search in my room for Alfred, if we see my dad along the way, we convince him to head downstairs with all the firewood and let us find Alfred ourselves. I know if dad confronts him, Alfred will just want to play the hero that much more. If we can't find him upstairs, then we find out where the back-up generator is located and try to head him off before he freezes himself to death. Sound good?" She again stood with her hands on her hips, waiting for his approval. He just nodded. Satisfied, Maddie moved into the stairwell and began to climb, Ivan following close behind.

_Hopefully the boy is just upstairs, or else I'll have to think of some way to stop her from dragging us outside in this blizzard._ He was inventing plans in his mind as they climbed, but about half-way up, his thoughts were disrupted by another voice. It was Maddie's father. Ivan tried to continue his planning while she convinced her father to let them find Alfred, but he could not. Her determination was showing again as her father just nodded in defeat. He would let them track down his son. With renewed vigour, Maddie began to climb again, her father settling behind her to go collect the firewood and food they had, while Ivan took up the back of the line.

***************

The two of them waited for Maddie's father to leave with an armful of wood and their bag of food before beginning to search for a trace of Alfred. Ivan noted that her room was a mirror version of his own, and eyed the decorations that lined the walls in both. Meanwhile, Maddie searched frantically for the boy in the bedrooms, and he could hear her tearing open the closet doors in a panic. Her brother had not been found and she was becoming increasingly unsettled. Ivan sauntered through the kitchen towards a brightly coloured piece of paper stuck to the table that no one seemed to have noticed and leaned over to read it.

It read, "Don't worry about a thing, your hero's going to save the day!" in thick letters. Ivan felt his mouth draw up in frustration. _He really is going to try to turn the generator on by himself,_ he finally admitted. He had to come up with a plan, and fast, to make sure they didn't get stuck outside in the driving wind trying to save Maddie's fool of a brother. His mind raced, trying to reason something out, but he found that he drew a blank. He had no idea how to stop the girl's plans. As if on cue, she appeared over his shoulder and read the note Alfred had left. She gasped, then let a string of curses fall from her lips. Though he knew her discovery meant facing the blizzard outside, he couldn't help but smile at her lack of self-censorship. _Swears when frustrated,_ he added another item to his list.

"Damnit, we have to go after him, now!" He felt a small hand grasp his wrist and pull with surprising strength. Ivan could admit that he hadn't pegged the girl as having that much physical power. He stood there for a moment with a bewildered look on his face as she briskly pulled on a large winter jacket and thick gloves. Another curse sounded as she discovered Alfred's jacket still hanging in the closet. Worry infiltrated her voice, "There's no way he can survive in the cold in only a bomber jacket. We have to move fast!" Again, he was being pulled forwards with great force. The bewildered look did not leave his face the entire way down the stairs.

Maddie took the stairs two at a time ahead of him. As they neared the bottom, he found enough sense to clear his face of all confusion. Being led so easily, it was hard for him to stop himself when Maddie suddenly halted at the exit of the stairwell, and he almost knocked into her. He caught himself just before he made contact, and she turned to him with a look of conviction in her eyes. "We have to find a way to get outside without being noticed by anyone on staff." He had no idea that she had already figured out where the generator was located.

"But, we don't even know where we are going yet, how can we pick an exit if we don't even know where we are going?" His voice was persistent; he really didn't want to be outside in a blizzard. She disregarded his comment with a shake of her head. Clearly, she loved her brother very much and would stop at nothing to see to his safety.

"I'm guessing the generator is in the shed I saw a distance from the main building yesterday. It shouldn't take us too long to get there, I just hope we find Alfred before it's too late." Ivan let his eyes grow wide in disbelief. He knew exactly which shed she was talking about and it wasn't at all close to the lodge.

"Are you kidding? That shed has to be at least a kilometre away! There's no way we can make it in this storm." He was arguing, but Maddie would have none of it.

"I know Al would do that same for me, we just have to try okay? Trust me." Her eyes met his imploringly, and he twisted away. He hadn't been asked to trust someone with his life in a long time, and he wasn't sure he could do that yet. Despite his apprehension, all he could do was nod, and she nearly jumped with delight. "Alright now, I guess taking the lounge exit is out of the question. Too many people. The front door will probably be guarded, but I think there should be an emergency exit just at the end of this hallway. It's probably the most direct route to the generator shed as well, so we should take that exit." She peeked her head out of the stairwell to check for anyone who might have been coming, and beckoned for him to follow when she saw the coast was clear.

She rushed to the door noiselessly and gently pushed it open. The driving wind whipped in and splattered their clothes with thick clumps of snow. She hastily shut the door, not wanting anyone in the building to feel the swift draft sweep through the halls. She looked back at him for a signal to go, and he gave a curt nod even though his insides were screaming at him to stop. With a quick push, they both rushed out in to the violent storm. She clicked the door shut as quietly as she could and pressed her back on its surface. He knew there was no turning back now: the door only opened from the inside.

It was then that realization dawned on him; they would not be able to re-enter through that exit. They would have to use the lounge door, exposing their plan to the entire population of the lodge. However, if they did manage to find Alfred, then he supposed that it would not matter which door they used, so long as they got back inside safely. He gave a knowing look to the girl who rested her back on the outside of the door, and she straightened against it. They had only been outside a few moments, but they were already covered in a layer of snow. Ivan tightened the scarf around his face as the flakes pelted his thick coat. _Damn, how I hate this season._

They could both feel the cold wind rip through their clothing and spread goosebumps over their skin. Ivan strained his eyes to see if he could spot the cabin, but still all he could see was a dull grey-white. As he continued to search, he felt a small hand wrap around his wrist and begin to lead him into the storm. At first, he was startled by her certainty _(Apparently, she knows exactly where we are going,)_ but he found that he should no longer be surprised by anything the small girl did. Despite her unremarkable appearance, she was indeed a very exceptional person. They began to move, and he let her lead him in to the tempest. He proceeded to search for a sign of anything but blinding white.

Slowly, they inched their way closer to the little shed, Maddie not relinquishing her firm grip on his wrist the entire way. Both of them kept their eyes peeled for any sign that Alfred had been there, but they could not see much of anything. Ivan was surprised that she even knew where she was taking them, but he did not press the issue. Along the way, the only trace of another human that they could feel was the trail of slight depressions that snaked over the snow - and even then, it could have been animal footprints. Ivan guessed they were around half-way to the shed at that point, and had to stop himself from sending them both toppling over as a strong gust of wind knocked in to him. He steadied on his feet and pushed Maddie forwards with encouragement, though in his head he was cursing himself for following the insane girl out into the biting cold. They started to move once more.

Another several metres further, and Ivan was cringing at the sound that grazed his ears. Though the wind blew every noise about in a frenzy, the high-pitched shriek could not be mistaken. He threw his eyes wide open (he hadn't even realized they were closed), and attempted to see what had caused the girl to scream. The snow surged violently around them, and the world was still blanketed in white, but the crumpled figure of a boy in the distance could not be denied. He watched flabbergasted as Maddie scrambled forwards and fell to her brother's side.

He was clad in only his pyjama pants, black t-shirt and bomber jacket, and the skin covering his cheeks was ghostly white. She hysterically tried to bring colour back to them with her warm hands, from which her thick gloves had been thrown. She was sobbing uncontrollably. He watched helplessly for a few moments, then knelt beside her instinctively, unraveled his thick white scarf from his neck and wrapped it around Alfred's own. He added Maddie's discarded gloves to the boy's icy hands when he had finished. Flurries of wind swirled around them, and he caught a desperate look in Maddie's red-tinged eyes. He could tell she was on the verge of a panic attack. Without thinking, he immediately slung the boy's limp body over his shoulder and pulled her up to stand beside him. He searched for a sign of their footprints on the ground and began to move with her hand clasped tightly in his own.

Quicker than before, they trudged back in the direction of the lodge. Though it was not yet sundown, the sky began to darken. Internally, he berated himself for being dragged so easily in to the weather. But then again, the girl needed help, and he had been acting extremely out of character when showing that he was more-than-willing to cooperate. So really, it was done of his own accord, and therefore, his own fault. The clouds above were shadowed dark grey, and the thick snow began to transform into a wet slurry. As it pelted the three figures from in front of them, the wind chilled the semi-solid flakes and left small, thin slivers of ice on their skin. Maddie had to shield her eyes with her free hand to stop it from invading, but Ivan had no free hand to hinder the assault. His one arm was wrapped around the waist that was resting on his broad shoulder and his other was clutching the girl's hand. His eyes had no shelter from the elements; he had to keep them open to watch where the footprints directed them. In spite of it all, the shadow of the lodge loomed in front of them.

Remembering the locked emergency door they had used earlier, Ivan changed direction towards the lounge exit. From inside the building, all that could be seen was a large figure approaching the door. Someone was kind enough to open the door for the shadow, and they tumbled, exhausted, into the room while the door slammed shut behind them. Cries and shouts were emitted from the crowd, but all Ivan could think of was the warmth washing over his body. He was so cold, and all he wanted to do was sleep in the comfort of the fireplace.

A mob of people was suddenly upon them and a weight was lifted from Ivan's shoulder. Someone called out for a warm blanket and a towel to wipe away the melting snow that dripped down their faces. Breathlessly, he rolled over onto his side and let go of the hand he hadn't even realized he was still holding on to. As the droplets of snow and ice were being wiped from his light blonde hair, he could make out the distinct watery voice calling out to him.

"I-Ivan.." The voice had the effect of hot water being poured over an ice cube to him. He inhaled weakly to signify his alertness.

"Thank you."

* * *

Oh dear gosh, Alfred, what were you thinking, silly boy?! Anyways.. I feel like I am beginning to write myself up against a wall a tiny bit (being stuck inside during a blizzard isn't the most exciting thing, y'know?) Soo.. I will take a few days to brainstorm before continuing writing. I also think all you wonderfull people should listen to a song called "Beautiful" by Trading Yesterday. It reminds me so much of Ivan. *squee*

Sorry... fangirl-y moment there. Ahem.. don't forget to review, please? Reviews make my day - every day, I go back and read them, and constantly smile because of your kindness!


	7. Seven: My Injuries are Less Agonizing

**Author's Note:** It's Thursday again, so here you go! You guys get another chapter - in which I teach you about frost-related injuries. Really, I had to do some intense research on the subject (well, maybe not _intense_, but I definitely spent at least half an hour reading about it.) Be prepared for a family "D'AWWW" moment as well. Enjoy!

* * *

Their room had been empty, as expected. With determination, she had gone to find him, as expected. Alfred had been out in the cold, as expected. He had been trying to be the hero, as expected. The only thing that had been unexpected was the person who had saved him.

In the hallway, someone had called her name; Someone had called her full name. He had explained that he had just guessed and became flustered. He had broken his perfect Canadian accent by slipping in a hint of a Russian one. She didn't know why, but for some reason, he had offered to help her find her brother. They had gone out into the biting wind and found Alfred crumpled about half-way to the generator shed.

At the sight, she had begun to panic and hyperventilate. Through her tears and frustration, she had watched the tall boy pick Alfred up and place him on his shoulder. In an instant, she had been on her feet again and they had been making their way back to the lodge. As the warmth of the fire washed over her, all she had managed to muster out had been a weak "thank you".

_Thank you?_

_This guy saves my brother's life and all I can think of to say is thank you?_

As people with warm blankets and dry facecloths swarmed around her, she let her body relax and tried to do the same for her mind. She could feel the stiffness of her frozen fingers begin to wane as they were dipped into a bowl of lukewarm water by one of the people helping her. She was cradled against a warm body, but even if she opened her eyes, she could not see who they were. The melt-water was wiped from her head and face. A comforting hand caressed her cheek, while another clumsily combed its fingers through her damp hair. Someone shifted her body, removed her snow-soaked coat and wrapped her in a warm blanket. A soft kiss was placed on her forehead, and she attempted to open her eyes.

"I'm so proud of you." Her father's emerald eyes were rimmed with unshed tears, and she let a small noise weakly escape her throat that signified her alertness. His arms tightened his grip on her and pulled her into an embrace.

"I know he would've done the same for me." Maddie rested in the comfort of his hug for several moments before he slowly pulled away.

"I think that's what he was trying to do for everyone," he started. " and his plan might have worked if he thought it through better, or at least put on a proper jacket." His voice was laced with faint pride at the edges, but anyone who didn't know him like she did would only hear his scolding parental tone.

She smiled slightly at her brother's attempted heroics. She supposed that with his determination, he might have pulled it off - only if, like her father had said, he better prepared himself for the raging blizzard outside. She had enough strength then to sit up on her own, and did. Re-adjusting the blanket around her shoulders, she looked at her father, who now sat in front of her. She began to apologize, "Sorry to worry you like that, but I had a feeling he w-" but he cut her off.

"It's fine. If not for you then he would still be outside freezing to death." She nodded in agreement.

"Then Alfred is going to be okay?" She asked hopefully, but her father's presence there was answer enough; If Alfred was in a severe condition, she knew that he wouldn't be there with her, but at his son's side instead.

"Yes, he may have permanently lost feeling in several of his fingers and toes, but they say he is going to be fine. A nice Chinese man is taking care of him; he said he was a doctor." Maddie sighed in relief. "And, the boy who was with you.." A wave of guilt washed over her. _Is he seriously injured? Did he get frost bite? Will they have to amputate his fingers?_ She could not help but feel horrible for whatever misfortune had befallen Ivan, as she felt it was clearly her who was at fault. "They think he has frost bite on his nose, but it may just be the top layer of skin." She felt her face screw up in confusion, and he quickly explained. "If it is just superficial frost bite, then the top layers of skin will slough off and he will be fine. It will be painful, but he will be fine."

She couldn't even begin to imagine what a frost-bitten nose would look like, let alone Ivan's. She remembered the ghostly white tint that covered her brother's face and wondered if that was the beginnings of the so-called 'superficial' frost bite. "Take me to Alfred." She had recovered her strength and her father rose to his feet to help her up. With a quick tug, he brought her to the couch which Alfred had been placed.

Like herself, he was wrapped in a large blanket, but his hands poked out from under the covers, and were resting in a bowl of just-warm water. There was a dry towel hung around his neck to absorb any drip from his hair, and he seemed to be semi-conscious. There was a man on a stool settled next to the couch who kept checking a thermometer that stuck out of the bowl. She rushed to her brother's side and swept her eyes over his face. His blue eyes were dull and half-lidded. The fragile skin that covered his face was tinged a slight red and a layer of ointment was evident upon his cheeks.

"Al, are you okay?" She gently prodded him after getting permission from the small Chinese man next to him. For a moment he was perfectly still, but as she kept poking his shoulder, his eyes began to flutter. A small grunt of pain came from him, and he began to speak.

"Don't keep poking me, you'll give me a bruise." Her face lit up in relief; He was the same old Alfred. As he focused his eyes on her, his face became scrunched in pain. Apparently, the movement of his mouth had disturbed the flesh on his cheeks.

"The boy has a case of frost nip on his cheeks. Once the ointment settles, his face will have to be bandaged up a bit to prevent any irritation or infection." _Wow, definitely a doctor_, she thought. He excused himself to go fetch more warm water Alfred's hands.

"You mean, this pretty face?" Alfred gestured to himself. "How am I supposed to appeal to the ladies with bandages covering it?" Maddie laughed. She was glad that his sense of humour was still in tact.

"Al, I think _the ladies_ will be more than sympathetic to your condition. Besides, you can always have them "take care" of you, right?" She could see that he was trying desperately to keep a smile from spreading on his face and irritating his frost nip. Instead, he just nodded.

"Would you like anything to drink or eat, lad?" Their father interjected. Alfred again tried to stop his face from twisting with emotion. "The kitchen should be making dinner right about now." She could see that he relaxed visibly at the addition of the last sentence.

"Yeah, water should be fine." He quickly departed towards the kitchen and left the two teens near the warmth of the fireplace. Outside, the world was darkening with approaching night. The wind still ripped violently through the trees, but it was invisible to all the patrons of the resort as the snow had not relinquished its furious downfall. Temperatures would be dropping even further as the night progressed. She was happy that they had already secured a spot by the fire.

"I'm glad you're okay." Maddie dropped her blanket and carefully embraced her brother, trying not to bother his face. He kept his hands in the bowl of cooling water, but feigned the gesture with his shoulders.

"I'm surprised you found me, and managed to get me inside all by yourself. You must be way stronger than I thought." She was glad he could not see her face at that moment, as it was riddled with guilt. She pulled away and smiled sheepishly as she explained.

"Well, I had a little help." His eyes widened skeptically. "I may have found you, but Ivan was the one that carried you back in here. If it was me all by myself, we would probably still be outside in the storm."

"You mean.." She cut his sentence short by nodding. "I didn't know you hung out with giants, Maddie." She continued nodding absent-mindedly._ Wait, what? What did he just say?_

"Al, what are you talking about?" She was visibly confused, but Alfred chuckled only slightly and chose to ignore her question.

"How did that guy end up helping you find me? I mean it seemed like you were pretty hostile to him when you met." His voice began to reflect his brotherly protective nature.

"I don't know, he just followed me when I left to look for you." She shrugged, as she really had no idea why he had helped. "But, he saved your life, Al. You know that right?" His eyes narrowed as much as his injured cheeks would allow.

"Yeah," he said hesitantly. "I guess I should thank him. Where is the big guy anyway?"

"I have no idea," she thought for a moment before adding, "but, I do know that you have to rest. Dad should be back any second, and so should the doctor." She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. Alfred lifted himself into a sitting position and made room for her on the sofa. She picked up her blanket and sat beside him, curling it around herself to fight off a rising wave of shivers. She felt a slight sting on the top of her right hand and splayed it out on her leg to inspect.

Rough patches of skin marred its back, and a raw redness spread over it. She winced at the sight before picking up the tube of ointment that lay on the stool and squeezed some on her fingertips. She gingerly spread the gel over the patches, inhaling sharply anytime she pressed too hard. Because her hands had been nearly frozen since she had been outside, when they thawed, the pain thawed with them. The afflicted hand was the one she had been using to shield her eyes from the driving snow. As the calming properties of the ointment began to settle, she gently pulled her hand in and cradled it to her body.

"You should probably let the doctor take a look at that," a familiar voice interjected with an air of hostility. A little surprised at the sudden appearance, Maddie lifted her eyes to the tall boy before her. She cringed when she caught sight of the darkened flesh covering his nose. Unfortunately, it looked like Ivan's recovery would be painful indeed. She could feel Alfred shift closer to her instinctively.

A bit intimidated, she began to apologize, "I'm so sorry about your nose, Ivan. I didn't expect.." His condescending eyes narrowed and she stopped to wonder what she did expect to happen, but realized that she never really thought her plan through. "Let me make it up to you somehow," she finished the only way she could think to.

A daunting smile spread across his face. "Well, I suppose I could really use some of that ointment." She handed him the tube and lowered her eyes out of guilt and uncertainty. _He seemed so nice earlier, but now he's kind of.. really frightening._ She wondered why he had such a sudden change in personality, and Alfred took a moment to speak up while Ivan attempted to spread the gel over his own injured nose.

"Listen.." He always had trouble with saying 'thank-you'. "I guess I should say something.. I mean I would've been a Popsicle by now.." Without changing the expression on his face too much her brother stumbled through his gratitude. "But, thanks for getting me inside.. I guess.." He scratched at the back of his neck sheepishly with one of his numb hands. Before Ivan could reply, two girls appeared behind him, seemingly out of breath and he flinched as if in anguish.

"Brother, why did you run away like that?" Her voice was concerned and breathy. The girl was fairly tall and had chin-length light blonde hair held back with a black headband.

"We told you to stay while we got you something to eat." The shorter girl's voice was low and slightly raspy in direct contrast to her calm and quiet appearance. She held out a plate with brownies on it towards him. He shook his head as the older girl approached him after seeing him struggling to apply the gel.

"I can't," he said simply. "I have ointment all over my hands right now." The smaller girl's eyes darted from his hands to Maddie's face then to Alfred seated next to her; They narrowed in distaste. She pointed warily at Alfred.

"You're the reason brother's nose is scarred, aren't you?" Beside her, Maddie could feel the boy's body tighten defensively.

"I never asked him to-" He started to defend himself, but Maddie felt the need to interrupt.

"Actually, it's my fault," she began. When the sharp eyes shifted from her brother to herself, she immediately regretted speaking up. They felt like daggers upon her conscience, but before she could say anything more, the taller girl spoke.

"Natalya, don't be so hostile. They needed help and Ivan offered. You should be proud of brother, not placing blame on others." Her tone was motherly, and Natalya relented her piercing gaze on the two twins. The girl turned away to her brother to inspect his injured nose. With relief, Maddie settled back into herself. Wiping her hands of ointment on the towel around Alfred's neck, the older girl extended her hand to them. "I am Katyusha and this charming girl is Natalya. We are Ivan's sisters." Alfred eagerly returned the gesture, then Maddie shook her warm hand gingerly, so to not disturb the marred back of her own.

"I'm Maddie and this is my brother Alfred." When she pulled her hand back, Katyusha's eyes widened in dismay. Hastily, Maddie hid the injury under the blanket still draped around her shoulders, not wanting to make a big fuss about it. The other two had worse injuries than she did.

"That hand should be bandaged." All five teenagers spun to face the new voice. The doctor had returned with a bowl of warm water for Alfred's hands and set it on the ground in front of him. _People keep popping out of nowhere,_ she thought. _Maybe I'm just not as alert as normal._ Hesitantly, she exposed her hand to the small man and he took it lightly. For a moment he inspected it, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of cloth bandage. He wrapped it delicately, then cut the end and secured it. She stretched her fingers and realized the soft cloth felt so much better against the skin than exposing it to the air did.

He turned to Alfred next and studied the patches on his cheeks and forehead. He lightly bandaged the boy's face with adhesive medical tape as Alfred was trying desperately not to wince from the contact. When he finished, Alfred exhaled sharply in relief. By that point, Natalya and Katyusha were seated on the sofa opposite the one Alfred had rested on, and Ivan sat on the stool the man had been using. He was blinking rapidly, apparently trying to comprehend what was coming next.

The doctor turned to him to scrutinize the damage done to the large boy's nose, then made a slight noise of insight. "You will have to wait for the ointment to settle before it can be bandaged." He turned to Katyusha and placed the adhesive medical tape in her hands, "I trust you can help him with it when the time comes." She nodded cautiously. "I'm sorry to leave you all so soon, but I must go back to my family. Now you," he pointed at Alfred. "You have to keep your hands in warm water for a while longer, then they should be bandaged as well." He handed the roll of bandage to Maddie and turned to leave. "You three are lucky you made it back in this storm. Anyone less foolishly determined might have perished in this cold." He left the five of them without another word.

For a moment, no one said anything. Then, breaking the silence, Alfred finally spoke. "Madds, what do you think is taking Dad so long? I'm hungry." His stomach let out a low rumble and he eyed the plate of brownies in front of Ivan.

"I think we're all a bit hungry," Katyusha said brightly. "Natalya, can you take the boys to get some food? Maddie and I will save our spots." The smaller girl jumped up eagerly before realizing she would have to take Alfred as well. Despite that, she latched onto a rigid Ivan's arm and began to pull him away.

"Come on, Alfred," she grumbled as she left. He quickly jumped up, snagging one of the chocolatey treats from the plate before taking off after the two.

When the three of them had vanished from sight, Katyusha turned to her and spoke earnestly. "I have no idea how you managed to get Ivan out in the blizzard; he hates the cold." There was an openness in her voice that soothed Maddie into conversation.

"I don't know, really," she shrugged, and kicked at the worn carpet absently. "He just followed me when I went after Alfred and helped me out when we found him." Katyusha's eyes moved from her hands to Maddie's face and her expression warmed into a smile. She took a moment and breathed in slowly before speaking.

"Do you by any chance know how to bandage a frost-bitten nose?" Maddie jerked at the sudden change in conversation topic. "I would have told the doctor I had no idea how, but I didn't want to bother him any further." She thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, I took a first-aid course a while back. I'll get Al's hands bandaged," She cringed internally when she remembered the sight of the darkened flesh that stretched over Ivan's normally handsome nose. His eyes had gleamed with condemnation when she looked into them. "Then I can help you with Ivan." Katyusha beamed in delight.

"Ah, he is lucky to have such a nice new friend like you!" Maddie turned to the excited girl skeptically, but she quickly explained. "You see, brother is not a very social person, so it's great to see that he met some new friends while here. That was part of the reason we came, you know!" Maddie didn't think Ivan counted Alfred and herself as 'new friends', more like annoyances that just-so-happened to need his help and strong back.

"Well, I don't think we're friends-" She was stopped by the shaking of Katyusha's head.

"Vanya would not put himself in those extreme conditions otherwise. I know him well enough to know that." Maddie saw the logic in that, but the memory of his reproachful violet eyes prevented her from believing. "And now we are friends too," she added brightly and Maddie smiled, but stopped herself.

"I don't think Natalya likes us very much though." Katyusha waved it off like nothing.

"Don't worry about her, she's just really protective of brother. She'll warm up to you eventually." Maddie couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive; the girl had eyes like knives and a voice that could narrate your nightmares.

"Ah, back so soon?" The three teens had returned, each with a fair amount of food on a paper plate. Natalya sat down beside Katyusha and Ivan stayed standing. Alfred was chewing something (Maddie had no idea what) and he handed her the plate.

"Eat anything you want," he managed to get out through a full mouth. "Dad is hiding out in kitchen. Some French guy was trying to chat him up, so he's trying to lay low, stay hidden you know?" Alfred laughed heartily and she picked up a strawberry, taking a big bite of it. It obviously wasn't fresh-picked, but the sweet taste flowed over her tongue and she smiled in appreciation.

"Al, we should probably wrap your hands now." She chewed thoughtfully as she spoke and Katyusha nodded in agreement.

"Brother, do you think the ointment is settled enough to bandage your face?" Ivan grimaced readily before replying.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Katyusha straightened in enthusiasm.

"Great, I will clean it up and Maddie can help with the process when Alfred's hands are wrapped." The untrained eye would not have seen the tall man stiffen, nor the change in expression of the smaller girl and the bright-faced boy. Katyusha began to explain upon seeing the change in his posture. "Maddie told me she took first-aid and I would probably mess up and hurt you. So, we'll leave it to the professional." A blush of aversion spread across Maddie's face as she bound her brother's hands in the soft fabric.

"I-I mean, I'm not a professional or anything," she said, denying the compliment._ Really, a one-day class is nothing to boast about._ "But I do remember some stuff about frostbite," she added hastily after sensing a pair of sharp eyes focusing on her. She finished wrapping Alfred's hands and secured the bandages in place. He sighed in appreciation.

"Thanks, sis. You'd really make a good doctor." Maddie flushed again at the flattery and he went back to eating his food, glancing sideways ever-so-slightly at Ivan through his bites. She moved from her position on the couch and timidly stood behind Katyusha, who was looking over the injury on Ivan's nose.

"Looks ready," she commented. "He's all yours!" She turned to Maddie and handed her the medical tape with a subtle smile. She stood there for a moment and fiddled with the packaging. The lighting in the room had dimmed considerably as nightfall had approached. A few people in the room had found candles and lit them for a light source, but the largest source was from the fireplace. Maddie's mind began to drift to the warmth spreading over her back, which faced the hearth. Ivan cleared his throat and she snapped back to reality. Slowly, she pulled a length of bandage off the roll and ripped it with her teeth as chatter arose between the other three people seated on the sofas. She lifted her eyes to decide where to place the first piece, but had to stop.

With an expression of pure intimidation (though she couldn't tell if it was done purposely or not), Ivan was staring right at her. _I can see why this guy doesn't make a lot of friends._ The expression on his face was magnified by the flickers of light that washed over him from the fireplace behind her. She fumbled in the dark for a second before awkwardly placing the strip over the bridge of his nose. She whole-heartedly expected him to flinch in pain at her clumsily placed bandage, but he did not so much as move a muscle. All he did was stare straight ahead at her as she continued to cover his afflicted flesh with the tape.

_He's not staring at me. He's staring right through me,_ she shivered and tried very hard to not show her nervousness as she continued to work, bandaging an injury that she, herself was solely responsible for.

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Aaand there you go! A (very) minor twist, eh? And you all thought Ivan was being perfectly friendly.. pffttt. Sorry for playing you all like that, but it's only their second day there (incase you've been keeping track: they arrived early Monday afternoon and this is Tuesday evening.) I see this as more of a transitional chapter, really. It's kind of the slight decline following last chapter's "action" per se. So did you enjoy it? Become one with Canada, eh? Or you would prefer to become one with Russia, da? I would love you to death for 36+ reviews, so don't forget! =]


	8. Eight: My Brain is Scattered

**Author's Note:** I LOVE YOU GUYS FOREVER FOR THE 37 REVIEWS. Woah, I like how my chapters are getting longer! They started out at about 3000 words per chapter, and this one is damn near 5000. I have also bumped the rating to **T** because, hey, teenagers like to take liberties with their speech. As a note, I'd like to let you all know that I have a rather unhealthy obsession with Russian noses. Yup, you heard that right. _Noses._ I have no idea why. Anyways, onwards through another chapter that I hope you will all really enjoy!

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Sitting down on the sofa to decrease his height, he knew Katyusha was right in assigning the girl the task of bandaging his nose. Her hands were surprisingly gentle despite her nervousness, and he did not flinch as she placed each strip on his face. He understood what Alfred meant when he said that she would make a good doctor - save the fact that she was so jittery.

He tried his hardest to keep his face still, so to not disturb her work, but found that it only increased the intensity of her shakiness. Finally, he decided it best to close his eyes and ignore the uncomfortable adhesive tape clinging to his injured face. As she continued, he heard the soft chatter of people around them and his two sisters. He could also hear the distinct sound of chewing - no, it was more like a mushy, chomping sound - coming from the boy seated beside him. Slightly disgusted, he tried not to wrinkle his face in distaste.

By then, no new pieces of tape were being placed on his face, but he could feel the girl fiddling with the arrangement already there. She kept smoothing over a bump on his nose, which, if he was to be perfectly honest, didn't feel all that great. For several seconds, he ignored the slight sting originating from the bridge of his nose. But in her determination, she did not stop.

"It's fine!" He snapped, and could feel a bubble of anger rise up his throat. His eyes focused sharply on her shaking hands, and then on her crestfallen face. Immediately, she retracted her hands and began to apologize profusely.

"I-I'm sorry? Did it hurt y-you?" Her stutter was full of regret and insecurity, and he felt moderately guilty for snapping at her. _She is just trying to help._

"No, you did not," he tried to soften his voice, but it still came out in a gruff scowl. "But the bandages are fine, you do not need to adjust them any more." Maddie relaxed the tiniest bit at his last sentence, then sat down between Alfred and himself - though it was clear that she was trying to stay as close to her brother as she possibly could. He shifted uncomfortably in the direction of his sisters, who seemed to be having an intense conversation in their native tongue. He highly doubted that either Maddie or Alfred could understand Russian, but he glanced sideways just to check. They were eating from the boy's plate, which hadn't seemed to empty at all since he last saw it (even though Alfred had been scarfing it down ravenously.)

He tuned in to his sisters' voices and realized they were discussing the storm outside.

"It can't get much worse than this. It should die down by late tomorrow."

_I don't mind being inside, but if the blizzard would die down, that would be great._

"As long as we are not stuck here with those two much longer."

"Sister! Why are you so hostile? The girl is a nice person, and so is her brother."

He thought for a moment, _I suppose._

"They can't be nice if they allowed brother to be hurt."

"They needed help. Besides, brother seems to be warming up to them."

_Wait, what?_ He couldn't stop himself from listening. Natalya hissed under her breath.

"Brother does not need them as friends, he has us to keep him company." He shuddered at the thought of only speaking to his little sister for the rest of his life. She wasn't bad past all the crazy, but to get past it, you had to dig _really_ deep.

"He needs more than just us, you know that." Katyusha's eyes flicked towards him and he tried to pretend as if he hadn't been listening. Sometimes, she chose the worst times to not be oblivious. "Ivan, how is your face feeling?" She was speaking in English again. In his head, he answered truthfully, _It is one of the most painful things I have ever felt in my life_. Out loud, he lied.

"I am fine." He put extra stress on the word "fine" as he pronounced it. Beside him, the twins were finishing the plate of food settled between them. Maddie's back was turned towards him, but he could tell she was trying not to wince. Alfred spared him a half-second death glare before picking up the empty plate and moving to dispose of it in the garbage. He graciously picked up the plate Katyusha and Natalya had been sharing along the way as well, despite the skeptical look Natalya was giving him.

To make a point, Ivan ate the last morsels on his own plate and got up to throw it out. He was stopped by a short (shorter than him) man with dark hair and thick glasses. As Ivan looked down to see why he had been stopped, the man's expression showed severity. His face was strict and slightly annoyed. Not wanting to cause a fuss, Ivan backtracked and flopped back down on the couch. The man looked over the group of five and cleared his throat.

"You three," he swept his hand over the air where Maddie, Alfred and Ivan were sitting, "are all immensely irresponsible." Ivan felt insulted by this comment, but said nothing. "To risk your lives in a storm like this is completely irrational, and I hope your injuries serve as a permanent reminder of your foolishness."

No one said a word, and the man held his hands on his hips. "I do believe we told all the guests to not go outside on any occasion." Beside him, Maddie opened her mouth to protest, but the angry man continued his rant, waving an arm dramatically as he did. "I do not care why you chose to venture out in the blizzard, all that matters is you are safe inside now, and I trust you will not attempt this again?" Maddie and Alfred both shook their heads in assurance, but Ivan's stayed stationary.

"To make sure that you three do not have any lingering and untreated frost-bite, we have ensured that you each will have a couch to sleep on by the fire tonight and tomorrow night if the storm continues." He turned his gaze to the two girls seated on the second couch, and gave an apologetic half-smile. "I'm sorry, but you two are not assured a spot downstairs tonight. If you wish to have extra blankets for the night, find any of the cleaning crew and ask for a few from one of the empty rooms." Katyusha nodded gratefully.

"Now, if any of you need anything, do not hesitate to come find me and ask, as it is my job to aid the patrons of this resort." Maddie's voice came as a squeak following the man's lecture.

"Thank you, Roderich." The gratitude sounded the same as it had when they first tumbled in from the raging storm outside. The dark-haired man waved it off as nothing and left them with naught more than a stern glance.

"You know, I could really go for some campfire marshmallows right now." A groan was emitted from the girl's throat.

"Al, is food all you think about? Though I could actually go for some myself." She laughed and Ivan remembered an un-opened bag of marshmallows in their own luggage.

"You know it is, Maddie. Does anyone have any?" The boy looked around hopefully.

"I think we do, don't we Ivan?" Katyusha's voice was bright with excitement. He took a sharp breath in before replying through clenched teeth.

"Yes, we do. I will go get them." He wanted a moment alone, away from the commotion of the lounge.

"D-Do you think they'll let us.. I-I mean.. in the fireplace?" Maddie sounded uncertain. _Not one to break the rules, eh? _He didn't stay to hear the answer. Quickly, he darted out of the crowded lounge and into the silent darkness of the stairwell. _I probably should have brought a candle, or something._ He cautiously manoeuvred his way up the pitch-black stairway and onto the second-floor landing. He reached aimlessly into his coat pocket for the door key and fumbled it into the lock.

The darkness of the room was complete; he couldn't see a thing. Carefully, he made his way towards the kitchen area and felt around on the counter for a bloated plastic bag. As he brushed his hands over the counter tops, he felt something hard hit the back of his right. A moment of realization swept over him, then a shattering sound filled the room. He felt the pit of his stomach drop in dread. _Shit, _he had to try to avoid broken glass in complete darkness_. _Without shifting his feet, he searched slowly for the bag of marshmallows that had evaded him, and breathed in relief when he finally found it. Minding the broken glass surrounding his feet, he took a giant step away from the counter. He flinched as he heard the crunch of glass beneath his boots._ Damnit! _He would be picking glass out of them for weeks to come. With no reason left to be cautious, he trudged out of the room and locked the door behind himself.

Hesitantly, he made his way back down into the stairwell, and noted the sickening crunch that came with every step. As he neared the bottom, he was sure that the shards were almost completely embedded in his shoes. The hallways of the building were completely blackened by the night, the glow of candles and the fireplace were the only light he had to guide him back. In the flickering orange glow, he could see that Alfred had collected five metal rods for roasting the marshmallows on, and the boy's eyes lit up when he saw the jumbo bag in Ivan's hands. He began to gesture excitedly.

"Awesome! Here here!" He grabbed the bag from his hands and ripped it open eagerly, spearing two marshmallows on one of the metal rods. Around him, the three girls each took a stick and squished the white sugary treat onto the end. Ivan sat himself on one of the couches and fiddled absently at the glass embedded in the soles of his boots. He never did really like marshmallows.

"Brother, aren't you going to join us?" Katyusha asked earnestly. He looked towards the four of them. They were all crowded around the hearth, browning their squishy white blobs. It was an amusing sight; seeing four teenagers roasting marshmallows like they were five-year-olds. Even Natalya looked fairly excited. He shook his head.

"нет. I am not too fond of them," he said simply. Both his sisters accepted his answer, but Maddie turned to him incredulously. Alfred, who had just stuffed both of the marshmallows in his face, was trying hard to not spit them out at his response.

"How can you not like roasted marshmallows?" Her eyes were wide in disbelief. He just shrugged. "Here, have mine. I make them best." Alfred nodded silently, so to not spit marshmallow everywhere, and she walked over to him on her knees. Gently, she pulled the outside layer of browned marshmallow off the metal rod and placed it in his outstretched hand. "You will love it, I swear."

He prodded at the warm lump in his hand. As he picked it up between his two fingers, several small strings of white formed in the distance between his hand and the browned marshmallow. With a skeptical look on his face, he brought it up to his mouth. Maddie's eyes lit up in anticipation as he tasted it. The sugar was sweet on his tongue and it was still warm from the fire. The inside was hollow from where it had been separated from the mass still on the girl's metal stick, and it was slightly sticky. As he chewed it, he admitted to himself that it was pretty good, but he wouldn't divulge that information to the impatient girl before him.

"So, what do you think?" She practically bounced up and down in excitement. A smirk upturned the corners of his mouth just before he answered.

"I do not care for it," he raised his shoulders and swallowed. She looked dejected for a moment, but then turned away with a smile.

"You're lying." Her voice was more certain that he had ever heard it before. He felt a look of surprise work its way on to his face. "You wouldn't have savoured it that long otherwise." From the fireplace, he could hear Katyusha's bubbly giggle, and Maddie settled beside her to brown what was left of her marshmallow. He wondered how she had uncovered his lie so easily.

"Nice try, buddy," Alfred interjected after swallowing, "but Maddie is the best at detecting lies. She always knows when I'm lying. We think she has some sort of internal lie detector or something." Ivan tried his best to send a glare his way, but it was lost in the darkness of the room.

"Do not accuse brother of lying." Natalya's voice came out as a snarl, but her mouth was quickly stuffed by Katyusha's marshmallow. His older sister began to laugh at the look that formed on Natalya's face. Soon, Maddie's soft laugh joined her, as well as Alfred's. Even Ivan let out a silent chuckle, but it went completely unnoticed. Natalya swallowed the sugary mass and looked down at her own metal stick. She discretely pulled the marshmallow off and stuffed it in Katyusha's mouth as she laughed. The four of them spent a moment in laughter before they were interrupted.

"I see you are all having fun?" Alfred stopped laughing to greet his father.

"Yo, Pops. How did avoiding the amorous French guy go?" He started to giggle again.

"Ugh. I had to hide in a storage closet for a good hour before he stopped looking for me." The man shuddered visibly before them. "But I see you are doing well here. I just came to tell you that I am heading up to look for extra blankets for the night." Maddie turned to the man almost apologetically.

"An employee came and said Al and I would have spots here tonight." Ivan noted her deliberate omittance of his own name. A sneer attempted to spread its way across his face, but he managed to keep his expression neutral.

"I assumed as much." The man looked around at the five of them before nodding. "I will probably be going to bed soon; there's not much to do in this blizzard." He spun to leave with a wave. "Goodnight to you all."

"You know, we should probably go try to find some extra blankets as well, Natalya, before they are all taken," Katyusha said thoughtfully. It had to be at least 8pm by then. His younger sister stood up and moved towards him with a disturbing smile.

"Brother, you do not have to sleep down here with _them_ if you do not want to." Her voice was gruff and low as she took his large hand in her own. He shook his head slowly, so to not anger her.

"I think I should do as the owners wish. Besides, I rather like the warmth of the fire." She looked back at Katyusha despondently before sighing.

"Fine. We shall see you tomorrow, brother." Small arms wrapped around him tightly. He saw Maddie and her brother giggling in the background at his apparent discomfort, and tried to send a glare their way, but it was lost in the atmosphere. Natalya finally let the hug go and waved goodnight, Katyusha following close behind her with a bright smile.

"Goodnight Maddie, Alfred!" She called as she trailed after the smaller girl. The two twins returned the gesture as the girls disappeared from sight.

"Night!"

Ivan spent much of the rest of the night in silence, teetering on the edge of acceptance and solitude. He had had a perfectly horrid day, to be honest. He had woken up in the middle of the night from a very vivid nightmare, and the remaining duration of his sleep was fitful and dreamless. When he had finally awoken, he discovered a rather unruly blizzard blanking the outside world. The power had gone out. He hadn't had time to take a shower. He had been unwittingly led out into the furious storm. He was sure he had pulled a muscle in his back. He had gotten some form of frost-bite on his perfect Russian nose. _And_ to top it all off, he was stuck inside with two rather energetic siblings disturbing his peace. _Life's a bitch, isn't it?_ Despite it all, he had to admit that there were much worse situations he could be stuck in at that moment.

The two siblings talked and laughed, and Alfred finished off the bag of marshmallows, but not before giving a few out to other guests at the resort for them to enjoy. Ivan was miffed by his willingness to give things that weren't his. Deep down, though he would never admit it, he really wanted to share in the festivities of roasting marshmallows, but his previous lie barred him from doing so. Every once in a while, someone in the room would have enough sense to put another piece of wood on the fire and stoke it. By the time the bag was emptied, it was clear that Alfred was, quite possibly, on a sugar high, and the fire was flickering healthily.

He was alternating between bouncing up and down on the couch and babbling non-stop. Ivan envied Maddie's apparent ability to tune the boy out and he wished he could do the same. There was even a smirk on the girl's face as Ivan became more visibly irritated. When Alfred's energy level finally crashed into the ground, Ivan breathed a sigh of relief. He passed out with his head hanging over the sofa arm.

Maddie yawned, "Thank god. I thought he would never fall asleep." Intrigued by her relief, Ivan questioned her. She explained further after another yawn. "I can never fall asleep before him. He always wakes me up somehow." Ivan supposed it would be hard to sleep with such a loud presence around, and nodded.

"I am wondering how he sleeps so soundly without disturbing his injuries," Ivan added. A look of guilt flicked over the girl's face and she took a moment before speaking.

"Listen.. I-I'm really sorry about your nose. I f-feel really horrible." He raised his hand to stop her from continuing.

"Do not apologize anymore, or I will have to close your mouth with medical tape." She had a bewildered look on her face and her eyes were wide. "I have already forgiven you," he claimed, though deep down there was a lingering hint of resentment.

"You're lying again," she said slyly. He stared at her with veiled disbelief. "You wouldn't hurt a girl." He had even taken care to not show any signs of a lie on his face. The smile on her face was confident, so he decided to play with her assurance.

"And what makes you so sure?" He rose from his seat on the couch and approached her. She was sitting on the floor with her back resting against the sofa legs and towering above her, he gave a menacing glare. He was sure that there had even been a glint of malice in his eyes - it was the look he had used to frighten a few of the neighbour boys back in Russia.

The effort seemed to be lost on her though, as she began to softly laugh at his attempt. Frustrated, he tried to bring some semblance of fear into her eyes and leaned down further. He could have sworn he saw a split-second of flashed nervousness, but she held her composure very well. He wasn't sure if he could take that as a sign of victory, however.

"You're way too serious," she managed through her dying laughter. His face was pushed away weakly by her small hand; He did not move a muscle. She rose awkwardly from her position on the floor and stretched her arms upwards while yawning. "I'm going to sleep. You probably should too." He stood there with an incredulous look on his face as she flopped down on a third sofa not too far away. "Night Ivan!" She called out before rolling over to face the back of the couch. He shook himself back to attention and muttered a quick "goodnight" before settling on his own bed for the night.

_I'll take that as a draw,_ he grumbled in a whispered voice so that she would not hear.

It took him quite a long time to fall asleep. His rest was not disrupted, but it was in fact dreamless. It was one of those sleeps where you don't even realize you have fallen asleep until you wake up. Only the sound of obnoxious snoring let him know that morning had finally arrived.

"Al, wake up." A familiar voice tried to awaken the source of the snoring. Ivan lazily peeked open an eye to see her poking a finger at the boy's face. "Al.. it's past noon. Get up you lazy butt." The boy stirred at her increasingly frequent prodding and grunted. Ivan moved his head to look at the clock on the wall._ 12:17, did I really sleep that long?_ Maddie turned around to wake Ivan, but he was already pulling himself up into a sitting position. "Oh, you're already awake. Well, you both missed breakfast but they're serving lunch now. Ivan your sisters already ate; they didn't want to disturb you." Such a rush of information was a little hard to process right after awakening, but he managed to sort it out_._

A blinding white light was pouring in from the large window. He squinted to adjust to the dramatic change in lighting and brought his hand up to his eyes. The snow was still falling heavily but the force of the wind had diminished a great amount. He could make out the slight shadows from tall conifers in the distance, but snowdrifts were forming around the base of anything and everything. The bottoms of the glass lounge doors were darkened by a growing pile of snow.

"The blizzard seems to be calming, don't you think?" He asked it to no one in particular.

"It was pretty crazy this morning, but it has calmed down a lot since then. People think maybe one more day at most. Should be cleared by mid-Thursday." She spoke with the emptiness of a preoccupied mind, but her voice was hopeful. She turned to him hesitantly and he caught sight of a foreign object settled in her hair. "Come on you guys I'm starving." She pulled on Alfred's outstretched arm and gestured for Ivan to follow.

"Yes! I'm so hungry." At the mention of food, the boy's expression brightened. Ivan furrowed his brow to try and distinguish just what exactly the yellow object resting above her ear was. As they moved through the hallway and closer to the kitchen, it dawned on him.

He was astonished at himself that he hadn't recognized it sooner, but he supposed it was only due to the fact that a) it was the middle of winter, and b) it was a much smaller variety than he was used to seeing. He clicked his tongue in deep thought as he began to speak.

"Madeline," he said rather stoically, "Why do yo-"

"Please, call me Maddie," she interrupted before he could finish his thought.

"_Maddie_," he put unnecessary stress on the name. "Why do you have a sunflower in your hair?" She turned her head back at him and continued to walk, never taking a misstep all the while.

"I found it upstairs in a vase. It's fake, but I thought we needed a little colour in the midst of all this snow and cloud." She shrugged and continued onwards. He couldn't explain why, but something about seeing the little flower resting upon her ear reminded him of summer.

Her hair was like a layer of straw and the small yellow sunflower lied upon it. The light radiating from her ever-persistent smile was the summer sun, and her warmth was the sunlight that washed over any exposed skin. Her watery voice was the sudden outburst of a humid downpour that cools you down when the temperatures get too hot for comfort.

When they had lived in Russia, the summers were relatively short and mild. He had always wanted to spend time somewhere tropical, or at least hot during his summer vacation from school, but they never had the money. Even living in Canada for several years, he had not experienced the satisfaction of a hot summer's day. All his Julys and Augusts had been fairly mild as well, with temperatures never rising above about 23 degrees. A smile spread across his lips. He decided that coming summer would be devoted to finding a place to experience a truly hot Canadian summer.

A golden-blonde head poked out from around the corner and called to him. "Are you coming, big guy?" He frowned for a second, _Don't call me that, _then realized that he had stopped walking. He blamed his lapse in focus on the horrible weather outside and his growing cabin fever, then began down the hallway after the boy.

Ivan caught up to him as he approached the counter that was lined with large trays of food. Ahead of him, Alfred loaded up a plate hungrily; Maddie was already grabbing a fork and finding a place to sit. Absently, he placed several things on his plate and continued on past Alfred, who was busy deciding between "sandwich with cheese" and "sandwich with mayo". He contemplated sitting somewhere by himself, but upon seeing no empty tables left, resigned to accompanying the girl and her eccentric brother. He glanced around the room in an attempt to find her, and only caught sight of her by the bright flower in her hair.

He moved in the direction of the table, but stopped when he saw an unfamiliar person occupying the seat next to her. He was fairly tall, and had dark brown hair that stood up by use of too much gel. He looked to be about 23 years old and was laughing rather loudly. Maddie tensed visibly when the man's muscular hand clasped her forearm. She looked like she was attempting to wriggle it free discretely though her uncomfortable laughter.

_She is too nice to say anything._

Ivan was slightly amused at the sight of her so flustered, but he had to admit that he was a bit disappointed that he was not able to make her squirm like that himself. He concluded that Katyusha must have spoken to her at some point and divulged what a "gentle soul" he was. _I hate when she does that, it ruins my fun,_ and being stuck inside the lodge, he was raring for any form of entertainment he could get. _I will just have to try harder._ A borderline obnoxious voice broke him from his train of thought.

"Wait! Who are you?" A whir of blonde and the scent of leather rushed past him towards the two. Alfred tapped his foot impatiently. "Will you kindly let go of my sister's arm?" Ivan silently sat down in the free seat across from the older man and began to eat.

_I guess the hero always comes to the rescue_. Ivan sighed and bit down on a baby carrot with a sharp crunch.

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Recommended listening: Chasing the Sun - the Calling (I always say "the KOLing" in my head.)  
Can we beat the review record? (this is my evil ploy to get your input/comments.. buahaha) Did you guys like it? Please remember to review, I will love you forever (oh wait, I already do for you reading this!)

Adieu, until next week!


	9. Nine: My Temper is Explosive

**Author's Note:** Is it Thursday already? The weeks keep going by faster and faster! So anyways, another chapter for you, wonderful readers. I tried to work in a canon-event parallel-type-thing here. (That being Maddie's reaction to Alfred, you'll see when you read it.) One of you did guess who the man was correctly, so good job! I am getting better at keeping our protagonists in-character now, huzzah! Hopefully it continues like that, eh? Happy reading!

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Maddie hated when this type of thing happened.

Yes, she had felt rather uncomfortable in the grip of the outgoing Dutch man beside her, but she supposed it was her own fault that she got stuck in situations like that.

She was too nice to say anything.

And yet, Alfred had always come to her rescue. Ivan had sat down like nothing was happening, but Alfred still tapped his foot impatiently in front of the tall man.

"Alfred, d-don't be rude," Maddie tried to calm him. _Really, it's not like I was being kidnapped or something._

"Were you or were you not uncomfortable?" His eyes met her own imploringly; she had to look away. The man seated beside her looked rather out of place, and he quietly left the three of them without another word, taking a quick glance back as he went.

"Well, yeah." Alfred made a noise in triumph. "But I always kind of feel that way, it's just how I am." His posture sagged for a moment before straightening once more.

"Whenever I leave you, you always attract strange company." Alfred began to flail his arms around grandly. By that point, many people in the room were looking in the direction of the boy's loud voice. Maddie sunk lower in her seat to try and avoid their gaze and her brother continued his rant. "First you end up making friends with the un-jolly green giant here," he gestured towards Ivan who seemed unaffected by his amateur slander, then he pointed at the empty seat next to her. "And then you go off to find somewhere to sit and practically get groped by a "friendly" 20-something-year-old."

Everyone in the room was dead silent, and the only sounds came from Maddie, who was breathing heavily and Ivan, who was still crunching his carrots nonchalantly. She couldn't believe how big a scene Alfred was making. Really, nothing had even happened to her!

"Al, I-I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill here.." She spoke shakily through her emotion and met his eyes once more. The look on his face could only be described as one of disbelief. "I'm _fine_. Now, will you p-please sit down and stop drawing attention to yourself?" He looked dejected for a second as he glanced around the room. All eyes fell to the tables once more. Unhappily, he fell to the seat directly beside her, the one that had been vacated shortly before.

"Fine, but I'm not leaving you from now on." Maddie felt a nerve twitch above her left eye. "Who knows what kind of psychos we're trapped here with?" She watched as he eyed Ivan suspiciously. Another twitch, this time more pronounced. "Someone might go all "the Shining" on our asses." She closed her eyes in frustration as he took a long, obnoxious sip of his drink through a straw. "You wouldn't kill someone, would you, big guy?" Alfred laughed nervously and Ivan finally showed some form of attention to the boy. Maddie felt the twitch above her eye begin to spasm violently and Ivan's face remained un-phased by Alfred's accusation.

"Alfred, stop being so rude," she grit through clenched teeth. She was trying desperately to hold onto her patience. He began to repeatedly poke her arm with an outstretched finger.

"But, he does look like one of those "closet psycho killer" types, doesn't he Madds?" Still, Ivan looked uninterested in his comments, but Maddie's patience had unraveled rapidly.

"Alfred!" He looked wary for a second, then poked her one last time. She snapped.

"What is wrong with you?!" All eyes once again focused on them, but she didn't care any more. If she didn't let go of her anger, she would explode on someone less deserving. Alfred looked slightly taken aback at her outburst, but she continued anyway.

"You can't just go around accusing people of being psycho killers." She cried out in anger, and spared a split-second glance at Ivan, who finally seemed as though he had acknowledged the tense situation in front of him and stopped eating. "You can be such an asshole sometimes, do you know that?" Alfred looked insulted but didn't dare say a word. "Just because you are a few minutes older than me, you treat me like such a child! You know that I can take care of myself perfectly fine, but you butt in anyways!" The anger inside her was spilling out of her mouth, and things that didn't even pertain to her present situation came out as well.

"You don't always have to save me. You're not responsible for me, and you don't have to be so goddamn patronizing all the time!" She could see the hurt in Alfred's eyes but she could no longer control herself. "Just because you do so many things so much better than I do doesn't mean you're any more of an adult than I am. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you were stuck at home next year when I go off to university!" At that last sentence, she could have sworn she saw a shimmer of liquid at the corner of his baby-blue eyes, but she still continued. "You're going to be stuck at home with dad, and just watch, I'll go make something of myself. I'll show you that I can make something of myself!"

Once again, the entire room was silent. Though, this time there was not even the sound of crunching; Ivan stayed perfectly still with a slight smile upturning his lips. Alfred sat there with a dumbfounded expression on his face, and moderately reddened eyes. Her anger was still present, but she felt kind of guilty for snapping at him. She became increasingly aware of every pair of eyes that watched her, and she took off in a sprint out of the room to escape their gaze.

She didn't stay long enough to see Alfred begin to hide his tears behind his sleeve. Nor did she stay long enough to see Ivan finish his plate of food and leave the boy to deal with his emotions alone. She wasn't there to hear the bubble of conversation in the room rise once more. Instead, she was running full-tilt back upstairs to their room with anger and guilt clouding her thoughts.

Somehow, she could never be settled with her anger towards others. As hard as she tried, and even if she had perfectly good reasons to be angry, the guilt of snapping at someone always got to her. There were times in the past when she would explode at Alfred like that, and it usually led to him in tears (as much as he liked to deny it), and her feeling so bad that she would be apologizing within five seconds. That was the dynamic that worked for them, but it had never happened in front of a room full of people before.

_A room full of people that we will have to deal with for the next thirty-or-so hours. I feel so stupid.  
_

She mentally reprimanded herself for letting her emotions get the better of her, but it would be incredibly embarrassing to go back now and apologize.

_Very embarrassing indeed._

So, instead of turning back, she opened their room door and slipped in as quietly as she could. She clicked the door shut and winced when she heard a deep sigh from behind her.

"You've yelled at him again, haven't you?" He drew out a long sip of tea and she nodded ashamedly. "What did he do?"

She thought for a moment on how to explain it to him properly without sounding too brash. "He was trying to save me from a guy that was bothering me," she admitted, though after she said the words aloud, she knew that the whole situation was fairly silly in retrospect. Her father arched a thick eyebrow.

"Is that all?" Slowly, she shook her head. "Well, out with it then." She took in a deep breath and let out a sigh before beginning.

"It's really stupid now that I look back on it, just so you know." He nodded. She explained how she had sat down to eat her lunch and was approached by a rather friendly man (her father stiffened at that), and how Alfred had come storming up to save her as he usually did. From what she could see on his face, her story was not yet a deviation from the usual. She continued to describe how he had been rather rude about the man's presence, and how he had gone on to call their other lunch guest a possible psycho killer.

Her father's expression tightened in concentration, "You mean that large Russian fellow?" She looked at him warily, then nodded. "Well, you have do admit, he is rather frightening." The way he put it didn't make it sound as bad as how Alfred had - plus her brother had said it directly in the boy's face, like Ivan couldn't hear a word they were saying.

"He kind of is, but still, you don't say that kind of thing in front of the person - especially if that's what you think about them." _They are liable to get you in your sleep,_ Maddie shuddered, "If Alfred knows what's good for him, he will sleep upstairs tonight." A hearty chuckle resonated around the room.

"You really suppose he thinks that far ahead?" He was obviously trying not to laugh while he spoke. Maddie guessed that the notion had been rather presumptuous of her; Alfred barely ever thought through the consequences of his actions.

"I suppose not," she verified. By that point, almost all her anger had washed away - her father usually had that effect on her. What little that was left inside of her had been consumed by a wave of guilt._ I hate this part._ Though she was always ready and willing to apologize, she found it best to wait until her brother was ready to accept it, otherwise she was wasting her time.

"Your novel is still on the night table if you want to stay up here for a while." Sometimes her father's intuitiveness amazed her._ Really, can he read minds or something?_ She silently thanked him and moved through the kitchen towards the room where her belongings were. She swore she would figure out his secret some day.

The white glow from the window was enough light for her to see where she was going. Though they had managed to get the back-up generator up and running earlier that morning, using power in the private rooms was discouraged; It was to be saved for the public areas such as the lounge and the kitchen, (though the thermostat was kept off; they still used the fireplace.) The situation reminded her of an old quote, "In times of crisis, it is best that we stick together to overcome our obstacles." A very valid point indeed, though she thought it would be nice to at least not have to shower in complete darkness. She navigated towards the bed and grabbed the book off the night table without much trouble.

The bed was quite firm, as the blankets had been torn off for her father's use, but the pillows still rested against the headboard. She lay her head on one of them and turned over to her side, book still in hand. Usually it took Alfred only a short while to get over her insults, but remembering the large crowd that had witnessed it, she supposed that it might take longer this time. She ran her wrapped hand loosely through her hair and combed the knots through with her fingers. As she brought her hand over the arch of her ear, she suddenly felt like something was missing._ It's probably nothing. _She shook off the feeling and decided to read instead.

The current novel she was reading served as a rather effective escape. She had reached about quarter-way through the book, and the protagonist had just arrived on an island where a vast treasure was supposedly hidden. The man had kissed the ground as he leaped from his boat and began to thoroughly search for the secret riches. She was glad that she had chosen this book when they had been packing for their vacation. She had doubted she would get much time to read it, as she didn't expect to be barred inside by a blizzard, but its sense of adventure and mystery was enough to keep her occupied for the while.

As she continued to read, the man began searching through the vegetation for a sign to indicate as to where what he sought was hidden. Maddie let the imagery paint an escape for her mind. She imagined a low-lying layer of ferns with towering palm-like trees and moss carpeting the forest floor. A few wildflowers were present as well, in vibrant orange and pink hues. As much as she loved the winter, she loved seeing endless fields of flowers in the summertime as well. She particularly loved tulips, lilies, and sunflowers. She snapped her eyes open and shut her book, effectively losing the page in her haste.

_Sunflowers?_ Immediately, she ran her hand over her ear. Nothing. She checked the other side, in case she had absently placed it there. Nothing._ Oh, no. It's not mine and I promised myself I would put it back._ Just to be sure, she checked behind her head and underneath the pillows. Nothing. She flung them off the bed and looked down the crack between the mattress and the headboard. Nothing. With an exasperated sigh, she glanced around the floor in the room, then out the door on the path she had taken. She tossed her book backwards on to the bed and stepped out, cautiously watching for a glimpse of the fake yellow flower. She drew closer to her father and he cleared his throat. She lifted her eyes innocently to meet his.

"Looking for something?"

"Nope," she responded inconspicuously, lips pursed. He looked skeptical, but went back to take a slow sip of tea. Relieved that he had relented questioning in favour of blissful ignorance, she continued to search. When she could not find the plastic-coated flower anywhere in sight, she resolved that it must have fallen as she had run upstairs. She exited the room without a glance back.

Still, the hallway was silent. It was actually quite strange how silent the hallway always seemed to be. _You would think it would be one of the more bustling places in this resort._ She figured that in peak ski season, it would have been more busy (and it didn't help that no one had been skiing the last day either.) She scanned the length of the hall for a spot of yellow, but still saw nothing. She retraced her steps back towards the stairs. _But, maybe someone picked it up?_

She started to meticulously move down the stairwell, but froze in her tracks when she heard a familiar voice. It was a more throaty version than it normally would be - but she would attribute that to a stuffy nose - and it was quietly whispering encouragement to itself. For a few seconds, she felt like a deer caught in headlights, and the heavy footsteps echoed closer than before, probably just around the curve of the stairs that was in her darkened line of vision. She discretely backed out of the stairwell, because despite her earlier readiness, she really was not prepared to deal with the embarrassment of apologizing _just_ yet. So, as the voice became clearer, she instead took off running to the closest empty room she could reach. She desperately hoped the door was unlocked.

She could hear his footsteps reach the top of the stairs just as she clicked the door shut. She stood on her tip-toes and watched through the peephole as the warped, rounded figure of her brother passed by the tiny lens of glass. Sometimes, she loved the fact that he was so oblivious. She sighed in relief when she heard their room door pull closed, then slouched down to rest her body against the solid surface. She took a moment of repose in the silence of the empty room. Something deep within her wasn't quite sure why she had run, and that unsettled her.

Her uneasiness stopped her from returning back into the hallway to continue her search. What if Alfred were to come out all of a sudden? She would feel obligated to apologize then, and would probably end up stuttering or tearing up. She didn't want that; She always wanted her apologies to be confident, not weak. Her only other option then, was to wait for an undetermined amount of time in that room, either until she was sure Alfred would not leave, or she felt confident enough to apologize. She decided to stay.

She wished that she had a third option, because when she stood up straight and turned to fall back on the couch, she met a rather sardonic pair of deep violet eyes.

"Oh.. u-umm," she began to stutter, "I-I'm sorry.. I t-thought this room was e-empty." She couldn't come up with a better story before the words dripped from her mouth. He raised a light blonde eyebrow apathetically.

"I told you to quit apologizing," he reminded her, then broke his gaze and returned it to his book.

"Oh.. right, I'm sorry." She only caught herself after she had already said it, though. He ignored it. "I mean.. o-okay," she nodded.

He spoke without lifting his eyes. "Do you have that medical tape on you, by any chance?" She thought for a moment and almost answered him, but remembered their conversation from last night. _Didn't he claim he would shut my mouth with medical tape if I kept apologizing?_ She felt nervous for a second, but the feeling left her when she recalled what Katyusha had told her.

When Ivan had gone to get the bag of marshmallows, she had said "He may seem cold and cruel on the outside, but I know him well enough to know that he would never hurt anyone." Maddie had been hesitant about believing the dubious statement, but something had told her that Katyusha was right. After all, she was his sister. So, when he had admitted his desire to silence her with the medical tape, she had been inclined to not believe it, as she was then.

"Yes, I do," she finally replied, but couldn't help herself from adding, "Why?" He scoffed slightly, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

"To replace the bandages on my nose." He finally looked at her as he spoke in his earthy voice. "Did you expect something else?" Maddie laughed uncomfortably.

"Of c-course not," she tossed him the roll from her pocket, "I just wanted to... make sure." She watched the corners of his mouth as they flicked upwards for a second, then settled back into the standard neutral pout. He set down the book he was reading, with something shoved in it to mark his page, and left towards the bathroom - presumably to fix his bandages. Maddie scolded herself for forgetting to mark her own place when she started to search for her missing hair-piece.

Frankly, she was surprised that Katyusha and Natalya were not there at the time. Though she could admit that she was fairly relieved that the latter was not present, she liked talking with Katyusha; she was kind of like the older sister she had always wished that she had. There was something so motherly about her, and that comforted Maddie. She guessed that her motherly instincts came from being the oldest of three siblings. Such very strange siblings indeed. The oldest, a mother figure. The middle, reclusive and cold. The youngest, sharp-eyed and severe.

She assumed that since he had not asked her to leave, she was welcome to sit. So, she jumped over top the back of the couch and landed roughly on one of the many throw pillows that rested there. She noticed that the room looked exactly like hers did, except mirrored. Though it was likely that many of the rooms carried the same floor plan, perhaps some of them were different than this one. She glanced around the room to see if it held the same vase of fake sunflowers that hers did, but was slightly disappointed when she realized that they were only daisies.

She was hoping to replace the flower in her hair with another, and daisies simply would not do, so she gave up her search for then. Instead, she occupied herself with studying things strewn across the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the book Ivan had been reading lying on the couch where he had sat. A quick glance towards the bathroom to check if he was coming back, then she leaned over to reach it. She knew it was kind of invasive of his privacy, but she picked it up anyways.

To her surprise, it was the exact novel she had been reading not ten minutes earlier. She realized that she should have recognized it by the cover - yes it was slightly different from her own copy, but it was similar enough to make the connection - a mauve-hued photograph of a tower perched high upon a rock with the sea crashing below. By then she was definitely curious. She didn't think he would be into that kind of book, with adventure and hidden riches and all. But, then again there was a certain theme of deceit and mystery within the book. Intrigued, she turned the book on its side to judge just how far he had read.

_Half-way. Damn, he's further than I am._ She tried to fight her curiosity - if she opened the book it would be wrong for two reasons: a) it would be further invading Ivan's privacy, and b) she might accidentally read some kind of plot spoiler. Despite her better judgement, she flipped the book open to where his make-shift bookmark rested.

She would have been surprised at the fact that he had reached chapter thirty-nine, while she was still back at chapter nineteen, but there was another reason for her wide eyes. While most _normal_ people tended to use slips of paper or colourful laminated bookmarks to save their pages, Ivan used something different. There, laying in between pages two-fifty-six and two-fifty-seven, was the little plastic-coated sunflower she had lost a while earlier. It was fairly flattened by the weight of the book, but when she picked it up between her fingers, it began to regain its former shape.

"Don't do that! You'll lose my page," Ivan's voice drifted from the bathroom. _What? How does he know? _She didn't grasp the fact that his voice was closer than she had originally thought. She spun her head to see if he was standing in the doorway watching, and almost fell backwards off the couch when she saw his immense figure looming over her. She caught herself by throwing her hand backwards and steadying against the flat surface of the coffee table however, and looked up at him guiltily.

"I'm s-sorry," she drawled out. His lip visibly twitched at the apology, but she didn't take notice. "It's just.. I was reading this exact book earlier and I wanted to see how far you were then I saw that you were using the sunflower I dropped as a bookmark well maybe it wa-" He held up his hand to halt her rambling.

"It is fine, just put it back where you found it," he ordered and she obeyed. "And _please_, stop saying sorry, I have already forgiven you." It seemed to Maddie as though that was becoming his catch-phrase.

"Sor-" she began, but this time she was able to stop herself. "Okay." She placed the book back where she had found it and turned around to face the opposite direction. The bandages covering his nose were looser than when she had done them, but she didn't want to say anything. He was obviously irritated and she did not want to lose her hiding place for the next hour or so. "Is it okay if I stay in here for a while?" Her voice was hopeful.

"I suppose," he sighed. "It doesn't appear that you would be leaving anytime soon, even if I wished it. So, yes, you may stay." He sat back down in his place, careful to move the book from under his path as he did so. Maddie noted that he wasn't nearly as frightening as he had seemed before, and let a smile cross her lips. He looked at her with mild interest before finally speaking.

"Why are you smiling?" She almost laughed at the question.

"Katyusha was right, you aren't that scary." He seemed dismayed by her answer but chose to stay silent. For a moment, no one spoke. It became one of those uncomfortable and awkward moments, the kind where each person tries to come up with something relevant to say to break the silence hanging in the air. The smile had disappeared from Maddie's face as soon as it had begun. She kept shifting her feet around below the coffee table to occupy herself and stole glances at Ivan. He seemed to be thinking, as though he was contemplating something very important. Finally, his face brightened the tiniest bit and he began to speak.

"I hate it when сестра does that to me. It ruins my fun." She didn't exactly know what "сестра" meant, but she assumed he was referring to Katyusha. Either way, she was still a bit confused by his confession.

"What do you mean "It ruins my fun," do you enjoy being alone and friendless?" She asked this in all honesty, but regretted it when she saw a flash of malevolence in his violet eyes. She was about to apologize, but remembered his words, and stopped herself. Instead, she gave him the most innocent look she could muster, so he may know that she meant no offense.

"I have friends," he said with true conviction. "It just-so-happens that I find enjoyment in startling them, is that so wrong?" Maddie knew she could not deny his question, as there were quite a few instances where she had hidden out of view of her brother, just so she could jump out to scare him. She was no different than he.

"I guess not," she conceded. "Though it sure does put people off of becoming your friend."

"Then we are more alike than I originally thought." She sat and contemplated this for a long while, crossing and uncrossing her legs underneath the table and fiddling with the zipper of her sweater. Satisfied, he eventually went back to reading his book and she let her thoughts drift to other things. The silence was not awkward, but after some time, she became bored by its completeness. With her eyes closed, she began to hum a familiar tune. She did not see, but Ivan lifted his eyes from the page he was on and watched her as she blindly hummed the song. She did not see him replace the little plastic-coated flower within the page and set it down at his side. She did not see him watching her for several moments.

But, to her surprise, a little more than half-way through the song, she _heard_ the familiar earthy voice begin to hum perfectly in-tune along with her. The realization interrupted her, but he continued on anyways. She picked up where he had gotten to and they continued on like that until the song finished. It was so unexpected to her, that she had been in a sort of trance, mindlessly humming the song she had heard a thousand times before (and that was no hyperbole.) Ivan Braginski was certainly one of the last people she expected to know that particular song, especially considering the fact that she knew it from a childhood trip to Quebec. It was a French song.

Sometimes, Maddie just couldn't avoid all the curveballs life threw her way.

* * *

I read somewhere that the Netherlands character has a lolicon, hence, he likes Maddie. I feel like this is the most in-character I have had Ivan yet. What do you think? I don't have a song for you guys to listen to this week, (though I'm not sure anyone did listen to the past ones anyways, hah.) However, I do have a photo for you guys. It's a picture of the type of sunflower that I envisioned Maddie to have in her hair. They grow wild around my house and in the valley.  
http (: / /) calliopeos (.) deviantart (.) com / art / Sunflower-with-a-hint-of-Maple-162885131  
Notice the maple leaf I stuck in there? Buahaha!

Leave some love in review form, you wonderful people! I command you all to spread the RusCan love! 3


	10. Ten: My Flesh is Calloused

**Author's Note:** I'll keep it short and sweet this Thursday: I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

* * *

Ivan particularly liked the song. He had heard it quite a few times before, but he knew that the girl found it fairly odd that he knew it at all. _It's so fun to confuse people,_ he smiled slightly at her puzzled look. He would toy with her for a while, if only to pass the time.

"H.. How do you know that song?" She had reacted exactly as he assumed she would. He feigned deep thought for a moment before replying.

"I learned it just now, with you," he said as plainly as he could, with a shrug of his broad shoulders. She didn't look convinced, however.

"No, really? I've known that song for forever, it's French, did you know that?" He could see her intently studying his face for any trace of a lie. He reflected a look upon his face as if the fact was news to him.

"I had no idea." She grumbled a noise of frustration and began to paw at her sweater sleeve ends with her small fingers.

"Of course you did! You were humming it right along with me!" She had raised her voice moderately. "Quit playing around, I just want to know how you know it. That's all."

"But, _Maddie_," he started, stressing the name, "I do not know the song, honest. One does not need to know the words in order to hum a tune along with someone." He let a menacing smile creep its way across his mouth as she became more and more frustrated with him.

"_Mon Dieu_," she sighed. She looked as though she were extremely tired of talking to an unresponsive child, which Ivan was pleased to play the role of. "I know you're lying." At that point, he decided to further his fun. He got up from the couch as fast as his body would allow, and in a second he was above her.

"I wish you would stop accusing me of lying," he purred, settling one of his large hands on the back of the couch beside her head. "It does not sit well with my conscience." For a moment, she looked starstruck, almost like one of those old propaganda posters from history class depicting the victorious aggressors and the fallen and bewildered victims. She was like one of the victims, in fact, he was pretty sure he had seen a face exactly like that on a poster before. After the initial shock wore off, she began to stutter through yet _another_ apology.

"I-I'm r-really sorry.. I-Ivan.." She shifted away from his hand. "I-I didn't m-mean to o-offend you.. honest!" He moved closer to her again, but frowned. Somehow, seeing her frightened was not as exciting to him as he had anticipated. Something about her watering violet eyes didn't sit well with his conscience, and that was the truth. She sat silently, most likely waiting for him to either accept her withered apology or to ream her for apologizing yet again. He did neither.

Instead, he just sat back down on the couch, lifted his feet up onto the coffee table and let out an exasperated sigh. She probably assumed that he was going to tell her to not apologize again, but she didn't know that the reason that he was frustrated was not because of what she had said, but because of his own mixed emotions at toying with her. Complete silence enveloped the room for a long moment, during which Ivan was experiencing an intense amount of inner turmoil. _Should I or shouldn't I?_ He decided the only way to clear himself was to go for it.

"Listen," he sighed. He saw her retract herself instinctively, and rolled his eyes. "I apologize. I was kidding, and I do actually know the song." Again all was silent, and she sat with her eyes wide. His conscience felt cleared, but even so, he regretted having to apologize. He didn't like the feeling of regret much either. He turned his eyes to her once more to observe her actions.

"I knew it," she exclaimed. She did not show any semblance of fear anymore. "So?" She seemed back to her normal self.

_So, what?_ He wasn't sure what she meant. _She changes both topics and moods so easily..__  
_

"Hmm? What are you getting on about?" He really had no idea this time.

"So... how do you know the song then?" Once again, she was pestering him about his knowledge of the song. He also began to regret ever having hummed it along with the girl, which was a feeling he still disliked.

"Oh, that," he sighed and supposed he should tell her, otherwise she might never let it go. "A rather famous Russian figure skater used it in his program at one point."

"Oh, is that all?" Obviously, she was expecting something more exciting. Ivan frowned slightly at her apathy. Figure Skating was a very prominent sport in Russia, after all!

"I'll have you know that it was a very beautiful piece," he stated thickly. She started to giggle, which deepened his frown even further. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out what she found _so funny_ that she felt the need to laugh at his answer. He was even being honest, this time. "What are you laughing at, exactly?"

She held her composure for a second to speak. "I never thought you, tough, strong, intimidating Ivan, would be one to watch _figure skating_." Following her answer, she fell to softened snickers behind the shield of her hands as he watched her, unamused.

"Well, what _were_ you expecting me to watch, monster truck rallies?" He picked the most testosterone-filled programming for TV that he could think of. It wasn't something he was too interested in, though. He would much rather be outside enjoying the sun rather than sitting like a lifeless zombie with eyes glued to the television. It would be much more amusing to him to see that sort of thing in real life, not through a TV screen. Maddie jumped in eagerness at his question.

"I was hoping hockey." He found her answer quite perplexing, if he was to be perfectly honest. Though he realized that most Canadians were rather fond of hockey, he didn't expect it from her. She was soft-spoken and polite and insufferably apologetic. He couldn't begin to imagine what she was like when watching hockey. Of course, he realized he was being rather presumptuous - maybe she just expected that _he_ would like hockey, though her eagerness was enough of an answer for him.

"I enjoy hockey as well as figure skating," he stated plainly. "Both are popular in Russia." When he confirmed that he did indeed enjoy the game, the girl's eyes brightened with a sort of fervor he had not seen before. It seemed as though he was correct in assuming her fondness for the sport as well.

"Really? I love it! I just can't get enough of it, the skills, the pace, even the fights are great!" This both amused and startled him. It was amusing because he, too rather enjoyed the brawls that sometimes occurred in professional hockey games. It was startling because, for such a soft-spoken girl to like hockey fights seemingly as much as he did, well, that was something very rare to find.

"So, you enjoy violence as a form of entertainment?" He brought his feet off the table and leaned forward in interest. A pleased look was on his face, his eyebrows arched and a one-sided smirk tugged at his lips. As he watched her, her face transformed from ecstatic to one of denial. She hadn't realized what she had admitted when she said she enjoyed hockey fights.

"Uh.. well not exactly, you know?" She was obviously trying very hard to explain away her sadistic tendencies. "I mean.. I'm not a freak that enjoys seeing people in pain or anything.. but in hockey, the fights are just so exhilarating. You know the players have so much pent up emotion and stuff. I don't know.. I just like it is all." He still looked at her expectantly, urging to get her to say more. In the end, she lamely added "Until someone gets hurt."

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the fight to begin with?" he asked incredulously. Certainly, one can't expect a fight to result in no injuries.

"It's more the energy I guess," she shrugged. He studied her for a moment before sighing and shaking his head.

_ She makes no sense._ Once again, he leaned and stretched backwards slightly. Maddie excused herself to the washroom and left him alone in the silence.

He guessed that it was about one or one-thirty in the afternoon. He didn't have a watch, and none of the clocks in the room were working. He glanced out the window to see if the snow had stopped falling yet, and cringed when he realized that it was falling harder than it had been an hour ago. He turned away from it in slight disgust, as he really didn't want to see something so horrible for more than a few seconds. He truly missed the sun.

What he wanted more than ever, at that moment, was to be outside with a slight summer breeze rippling at his clothes. Not so much that it would bother him and flap the fabric around incessantly, but just enough to sweep over his skin. The sun would be filtering through the canopy of trees high above, warming the ground just enough to make it comfortable. For an early summer's day, it would be decidedly warm. He would take a deep breath of fresh, crisp air, with the delightful scent of flowers present, and he would sigh in content. The birds would be chirping and singing from their perches in the treetops, just as happy as he. Nothing would disturb him and his happiness, not anything or anybody.

Well, maybe nothing except a string of curses consisting of both the English and French languages. The sudden disturbance caused him to snap his eyes open and lose the content feeling he had gotten from the vivid daydream. Instead of in the serene forest, he was back in the cramped, stuffy resort room, with a cursing girl who was in obvious pain.

He watched, dumbfounded, as she hopped on one foot towards the couch - which happened to be a very amusing sight. A slight smile slithered across his mouth as she rounded the corner and awkwardly flung herself upon the seat closest to the end. He had to adjust himself farther sideways to allow her room to settle upon the sofa. He had no idea why she was in so much pain, but from the way she was holding her foot between her hands, he was correct in assuming that was where it originated from.

At some point during their conversation, she had removed her shoes from her feet - which he guessed were resting beneath the table - and so when she had gone to the washroom, she had only socks on her feet. He watched as she carefully pulled the split, darkened fabric apart; It was stained red. Apparently, there was a nice, thick slice to the sole of her right foot, right below the middle toe. Normally, he would find the fact very amusing - especially with the amount of pain she was reflecting on her face. However, once he realized how she had acquired the injury, he could find no enjoyment in the sight. It was his fault that he hadn't properly cleaned the pieces of the cup he had broken the night before.

He watched, wide-eyed, as she gently poked at the tender skin and she winced when the pain must have washed over her.

"If it hurts, don't prod at it," he advised. She shook her head in defiance.

"I have to see if there is any glass in there - I'm pretty sure that's what I stepped on," she replied, and continued to poke through the pain. He didn't like the feeling of guilt much either.

"Are you sure you won't need stitches or something?" He wasn't sure if she even _could_ get stitches, as they were trapped in the lodge and all.

Another poke, and accompanying wince. "I think I might, it feels pretty deep." He shuddered at the thought, and was glad that he had been wearing boots the previous day, because with the amount of glass there had been then, he most likely would have needed a tetanus shot. Her injury was only a surface cut and wouldn't require such extremities - plus the glass had been clean.

"Do you think you even can get stitches, I mean, is there someone that could do it?" He really wondered if there was or not.

"The doctor from yesterday probably. Long shot, but do you have any peroxide to clean this with?" He shook his head no but got up to fetch a wet cloth anyway.

"Here," he handed it to her and sat back down. He was intrigued by her apparent ability to withstand so much pain and still think clearly enough to tend to her wounds. She dabbed at the cut carefully, then when she had wiped away as much of the blood as she could, began to unwrap the bandages from her hand. He watched in complete silence as she re-wrapped the long bandage around her foot to halt the bleeding, then stretched the stained sock back over her foot. She stood up and was a bit wobbly on her one foot, but steadied herself with a hand on the back of the sofa.

"I'm going to find the doctor to see if he can stitch this." She hobbled awkwardly over towards the door, obviously trying to avoid putting pressure on her injured foot. "Umm.. thanks for letting me stay here for a while." She left the room rather noisily, almost falling over as she closed the door. From the hallway, he could hear the heavy hops of her one foot as she mover farther and farther away.

_She sure is determined._ He felt the tiniest bit guilty for causing her injury, but she seemed fine enough to find the doctor and to take care of it on her own. Besides, he was no doctor, so there was nothing he could do to help her, even though he had caused her pain. At least, that's what he thought. All at once, he heard a fairly loud thud, then the familiar string of curses. He didn't even have to get up and look out the door to know what had happened. She had fallen down as she was hopping towards the stairwell.

_Obviously, she wouldn't be able to make it down the stairs by herself anyways._ He waited several seconds for a sound of movement, then rolled his eyes when he heard none. He rose from his seat, stretched, then made his way towards the door. As quietly as he could, he opened it and stepped outside.

He was right, she had fallen right in front of the stairwell, and was blocking it in the event that anyone wanted to get upstairs. She was trying to pull herself back to her feet (or, he guessed, _foot_) by bracing herself against the wall. The sight was mildly pathetic, if he was to be perfectly honest. She was determined to do it on her own. With that fact in mind, he decided upon something brash.

He walked briskly over to her as she struggled to pull herself up. For about the tenth time since he had been in the hallway, she fell back to her butt on the floor. With a smirk, he crouched with his back to her and positioned his hands beneath her armpits. Despite her protests, he pulled her up on his back and stood upright once more. She was heavier than he had expected, but still fairly light. He supposed that maybe she had hidden muscle somewhere beneath her baggy clothes.

"Hey, stop," she yelled. "I can do this on my own!" He ignored her, brought his arms beneath her legs to keep her from jumping off, and started to descend down the stairs

As she beat her hands furiously upon his back, (which he guessed must have hurt her exposed frost-bitten hand, because she promptly stopped,) he contemplated dropping her, but didn't. He knew that that was what she wanted - to be left to find the doctor on her own - and it made him want to help her that much more, as it would bother her. If he couldn't find enjoyment in frightening her, he would have fun annoying her.

So, he continued down the stairs, with an irate Maddie perched upon his back like a wounded soldier. He moved faster now, taking them two at a time just for the fun of it. Around the corners, he would turn sharply, causing her to shift off to one side and emit sounds of shock. At some point, she had wrapped her arms around his neck to steady her body and keep herself from falling off his back. He was having too much fun.

A deep, hearty laugh echoed through his throat, and he was sure that the vibrations must have tickled her arms, because she retracted them and settled her wrists in the dip between his shoulder blades. He guessed that she figured it was safe to do so, as they had reached to bottom of the stairs - which meant no more sharp corners.

"C-Can I get down now?" Her weak voice was right behind his ears, but he could still barely hear it. He decided to play dumb.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you. Could you speak up?" He let a smug smile that she could not see spread across his lips.

"I said, "Can I get down now?" if you don't mind." Her voice was louder this time. He crouched down slightly, then:

"Certainly," he dropped her on her backside, though he made a note to keep hold of her right foot a bit longer than the rest of her body so it would not hit the ground as hard. Still, she let out a cry of surprise. He spun to face her with a chuckle, and watched as she slowly crawled to her knees and pulled herself up by her uninjured leg.

"What did you do that for?" she asked, rubbing her lower back with both hands. It was most likely sore from her multiple falls. He put on the most innocent face he could muster.

"You asked to be let down, and I obliged. I was doing you a favour." She looked unimpressed and he decided that bothering her was much more fun than seeing her hurt - she took pain too easily for there to be much enjoyment for him.

"W-Well, I didn't really ask you to help, now did I? I think I can t-take care of myself now." The statement itself was assertive, but the way she stuttered through it left its entire effect rather lacklustre. He hummed lazily and turned to leave her to her own accord. If she really wanted to limp down the hall by herself, he would let her do so. He had better things to do anyway.

"Hey," she called to him as he left. He looked over in her direction, and she was fiddling with the sleeves of her sweater again. _Probably a nervous habit,_ he thought. He watched her expectantly until she at last decided to speak. "Thanks," she muttered weakly. He tipped his head the slightest bit in recognition, and climbed back into the stairwell without a word. He could hear her heavy hobbling steps grow fainter as he climbed higher back towards the second floor. When he reached to top, he re-entered his room and reveled in the complete silence it held.

He supposed he should check the ground for stray pieces of glass, in case any were still strewn about, or at least to find the one shard he knew was there. He found it half-way between the bathroom and the couch, right about where she had started to swear. It hadn't gone anywhere, though he wasn't sure why he had expected that it would have. Carefully, he picked up the stained shard between his thumb and forefinger, minding to not touch the drying blood. He gingerly placed it in the kitchen sink and turned the water on hot. For some reason or another, he decided to cleanse the jagged surface of the girl's blood instead of just throwing it away. As he worked, he hummed a familiar tune mindlessly.

The red liquid that had begun to crust onto the clear and solid surface was easily wiped away. The fractured piece had come from a drinking glass, but it could no longer be considered the glass by itself. It was merely a piece of the whole - not enough on its own to be considered the shattered skeleton, and too much to be counted as only an unidentifiable shard. It was stuck somewhere in-between, destined to stay as only one fracture of one hundred. He thumbed at an edge, testing its sharpness. It was not sharp enough to break the top layer of skin on the pad of his thumb, but then again, his fingers were rather calloused, more so than anyone else he knew. Nothing would easily break through his skin.

He found that something had easily broken in to his mind, though. He was humming the same song from earlier. With a scowl, he stopped himself and shut off the water. As he set the thick piece of broken cup next to the sink, the door swung open to allow his two sisters to enter mid-conversation. He wiped his hands on his pant legs to dry them, and Katyusha greeted him happily.

"Hello, Vanya! How is your day going?" She wore a bright - almost blinding - smile on her face. It was not that his day was going poorly, but nothing all too interesting had happened, not unless you could count witnessing a fight between siblings and a two-inch long slice to the bottom of someones foot. He didn't, so he just shrugged. Behind her, Natalya sat placidly on the couch, shifting her gaze around the area. Apparently, she sensed that something was amiss.

"Why are there shoes beneath our coffee table?" She looked back to him vaguely. His mind flashed the image of a sock-footed strawberry blonde limping around the lounge in search of a doctor, and he grunted passively. She obviously had forgotten to take her shoes when she had hopped out.

He heaved a deep sigh, then replied, "They are Madeline's shoes." Both of his sisters looked mildly shocked, though each in a different way. Katyusha looked pleasantly surprised, while Natalya's shock bore the resemblance of slight distaste.

"Why are her shoes here?" His older sister moved closer to him and into the kitchen area. She settled her hand high upon his shoulder and he watched her apprehensively.

"She was presumably hiding from her brother," he answered and shifted out of her grasp. At his words, Natalya began to laugh behind her hands.

"_Hiding from her brother?_" She echoed him and continued to snicker. He didn't know why she found it so funny - there were plenty of times when he hid himself from them, though he would always deny it when either had asked.

"Oh, I see." Katyusha nodded knowingly. "I heard about their little spat." Gossip always seemed to travel fast in small environments. "But, where did she go and why did she leave her shoes?"

"She left to seek the doctor from last night's help with a medical matter." He didn't think that they needed to know exactly _which_ medical matter he was referring to. By then, Natalya had relented her laughter in favour of intent listening.

"So she is having her hand re-wrapped?" Ivan thought for a moment, remembering the sight of Maddie unwrapping the bandage from her hand to stop the bleeding from her cut.

"I suppose so," he said, making himself sound rather uninterested with the matter.

"But, that doesn't answer why her shoes are still here." Natalya's low voice jumped in to the conversation. Ivan had to stop himself from letting out an exasperated sigh. They both had so many questions that he did not particularly feel like answering.

"Oh yes, that," he hummed. "Well, I suppose she did not want to stain them with blood." He kept his tone free of inflection, which suggested that there was nothing unusual about the bleeding of ones foot. Nevertheless, his older sister's eyes went wide and a smirk snaked its way on to the younger girl's face.

"Her foot was bleeding!" His sister exclaimed this with pronounced worry in her eyes. "Why?"

Ivan shrugged, "It seems as though she stepped on.." he moved back towards the sink and picked up the thick shard, "this stray piece of glass that I neglected to clean up earlier, as I did with the rest of the broken cup." He presented it in front of her wide blue eyes.

"So.. she is walking around with a nasty gash in the bottom of her foot?"

"No," he shook his head simply. "I told you she was with the doctor." She continued to look at him expectantly. "He is most likely stitching the cut for her right now," he finished.

"Why did you not stay with her?" she asked incredulously, as though it were the most obvious course of action, the one that he should have taken.

"She looked as though she could handle it on her own." He still kept his voice uniform, and Katyusha looked more worried than she had before. She uttered a near silent "oh my god" and left the room to - he assumed (and would later find his assumption to be correct) - try and locate the injured girl. From the couch, Natalya was maliciously kicking at a rather worn pair of sneakers.

_Really, it's not like she split her entire foot open._ He shuddered at the thought and returned to absently thumbing at the edges of the thick glass shard.

* * *

If anyone is wondering about that book I described from last chapter, it actually does exist, as well as the song that was mentioned.

Leave a review if you enjoyed it this week, or even if you didn't, because I'd love to hear from you all!


	11. Eleven: My Laughter is Unrelenting

**Author's Note:** Chapter Eleven: My Laughter is Unrelenting, (and so is yours.) A little late this week, due to the fact that this has been a crazy hectic past few days for me. Exams, video projects, other things of the like. But, never fear! For, it is a long weekend for me this weekend, (thank god for Victoria Day!) so all will be back on track. I'm not any good at hyping up my chapters, so I'll just leave you to reading! Enjoy!

* * *

She was trying very hard to not yelp out in pain as the thick needle passed through her skin. Each stitch was a painstakingly long process, the little wiry string binding the two sides of flesh together. Usually, she did not mind stitches all that much, and it was not as if she had never had them before (living with Alfred, you have to expect to be sent to the emergency room sooner or later.) However, the nerve endings that occupied the bottom of her foot would beg to differ.

Three, wince, watering eyes.

Besides being particularly painful to have an injury residing on the sole of her foot, she knew it would be rather painful to get around as well. Technically speaking, when one has a body part filled with stitches, they tend to avoid all movement of that part, but Maddie could not. She still had to deal with walking on it.

Four, contorted face, a rolling tear of pain.

Beside her lay a stained pile of bandages and a split piece of once-white fabric, blood drying to a revolting brownish red colour. She supposed that the socks were garbage now, and reminded herself to throw out the other that was still on her right foot. She always hated only finding one sock of a pair. She reached out her newly-bandaged hand and removed it from her foot while the doctor continued on with his work.

Five, gasp, red-rimmed eyes.

When she had hopped in to the lounge in search of the calm doctor, she had almost tripped over the leg of the same muscular Dutch man from earlier in the day. She apologized for her clumsiness and steadied back on her one foot. He introduced himself as Nikolaas, and asked her where she was going in such a condition. She told him she had split her foot open, and was looking for a rather serene-looking Chinese doctor. He said he had seen him not too long ago and put an arm around her thin shoulders to help direct her to him. She knew Alfred would have probably killed her on the spot if her had seen her at that moment, but who was she to refuse someones help?

Six, wince, gasp, watering eyes.

Together, they had found the doctor in a remote corner of the lodge - what he was doing there, she wasn't so sure. She explained to the doctor the situation while awkwardly outstretching her leg to show him her wrapped and bloated injury. He nodded serenely and directed them back towards his room. Again, she had to be piggy-backed through the stairwell, but Nikolaas did not careen wildly around the corners as Ivan had. The three of them quietly slipped in to the doctor's room and she gently fell on the sofa, settling herself on the middle cushion. The doctor and the Dutch man both took an end.

Snip, knot, one last rolling tear of pain.

He had re-wrapped her hand first, to get one task out of the way right from the beginning. Again, she stretched and moved her fingers in strange circles, appreciative of the soft cloth against her raw skin. As she did so, the bloodied bandages were removed from her assaulted foot, and her injury was exposed to the stale air of the building once more. Next came the cleansing of the wound, which was rather uncomfortable as always, then he began to stitch, slowly, as she had nothing to numb it from imminent pain.

Another snip, the beginnings of binding, a sigh of relief.

Through the entire process of having her wound stitched, Maddie's mind was rather hazy with pain. She faintly remembered a few mutterings of conversation between the two men, and at some point, she had heard a female voice join them. For a moment, she thought it had been her own, mumbling incoherent phrases through her haziness. However, as the doctor began to wrap her foot once more, she recognized the warm feminine voice as that of Katyusha. As she came out of her pain-induced daze, Maddie lifted her glazed eyes to meet the woman's own.

Stretch, clip, the smoothing of the bandages.

"Oh, dear," Katyusha muttered. Maddie tilted her head in confusion. "I'm so sorry about your foot Maddie! We tried to clean up as much glass as we could, but I guess we missed a piece." She was shaking her head regretfully. Maddie shook her own to stop her.

"It's fine. It's my own fault, really, for hiding from my brother." Maddie wished she had had the courage to apologize to Alfred when she had the chance in the hallway. If she would have, she would not have been hiding in Ivan's room, and therefore would not have stepped on the malicious piece of glass that pierced her.

"But, now your poor foot," Katyusha's eyes began to water at the corners. "How long will it take to heal?"

"There is no knowing exactly how long it will take, as it is a rather strange placement," the doctor began thoughtfully, cleaning up assorted medical equipment as he did so. "The best advice I can give you is to keep as much weight off of it as possible, as you would not want the stitches to burst." Maddie wondered if that was even possible, seeing how she did have to _walk_ to get around effectively.

"So, you're basically saying I need crutches or something?"

"Crutches would be helpful." Her eyes brightened at his words, but would lose their shine as he continued. "Unfortunately, I really doubt we will find any available for your leisure, as we do have _limited access_ to material items at the moment." He gestured out the window.

The snow was falling in heavy clusters, and it seemed as though the heavens had an endless supply of the crystallized flakes to fuel its downfall. Unlike before, the wind had stilled, leaving only the constant blanket of snow to build upon everything in sight. Technically, it was no longer a blizzard, though the power lines were down and the roads closed. They were effectively trapped inside, still.

"So, how am I supposed to get around?" The doctor looked around the room at length, then replied calmly.

"It seems as though you have a lot of friends here, perhaps they can help you for the time being." Maddie thought back through a list of people she knew at the lodge._ Alfred, Dad, Katyusha, Ivan, Natalya,_ a shudder, _Roderich, Vash, and now Nikolaas._ She agreed with his statement with a slow nod, though she did not know exactly which would be helping her, she guessed it would be Alfred.

_If he forgives me,_ she sighed internally. She felt the strong urge to apologize to him right then, though her immobility hindered her actions.

"Maddie, I will help you get around, if I can," Katyusha smiled. Maddie chuckled gratefully, but her laugh was interrupted.

"Such pretty girls shouldn't be put through so much trouble," his accent was thick, but still comprehensible. "I will offer to help you around, Maddie." She tensed slightly at Nikolaas' offer. It was not that he was a bad person, it was just that Alfred would absolutely _flip shit_ if he saw her with him. _Just look at how much good it did me last time._ She began to shake her head vigorously.

"Oh, no, I couldn't possibly trouble you like that," she started in true, Canadian fashion. She would politely decline his offer and hope he understood. "You're here on vacation, and I have plenty of people to help me, like my brother or my dad." His lip twitched at the mention of her brother, and she smiled genuinely. "I'm sure you have much better things to do anyway, but thank you for the offer."

He straightened where he sat, an unimpressed look reflecting in his soft amber eyes, but he did not say anything about the matter. Instead, he nodded, got up from his seat, and made his way to the door. Both Katyusha and Maddie watched him carefully as he went. At the door, he turned his head back to them and spoke in a sort of hushed, hoarse growl.

"I'll see you around, then." He tipped his head and shut the door behind himself. As it clicked shut, a shiver ran the length of Maddie's spine. For reasons unknown to her, she was immensely relieved that he was gone. Something about the last words he uttered as he left did not sit well with her. They had a certain wolf-like quality to them, as if the speaker were searching for something to settle their inside feelings, like a hunter, if you will.

_And I thought Ivan was frightening._

She shook off the feeling and returned to pawing at the soft fabric wrapped around her injury. An awkward, tense aura hung in the air, and no one said a word. Silently, the doctor, (who Maddie had come to calling by his title, Dr. Wang,) collected the last of the scattered medical equipment and closed it all up in a small metal case, after sterilizing it of course. The tense atmosphere was broken after a few moments by a heavy knock at the door. Dr. Wang was busy at the sink, washing his hands among other things, so Katyusha saved Maddie the trouble of getting up by answering it herself.

"Oh, brother," she exclaimed with true surprise._ Speak of the devil._ Maddie stopped fiddling with the clean white bandage in favour of listening, without turning around. "What are you - oh!" She stopped mid-sentence.

"You forgot these when you ran off. I've been searching for you for some time, you know." His voice was a low, hushed whisper, though it lacked the distinct wolf-like quality that had earlier caused her spine to shiver. It was more comparable to the protective growl of a bear, though Maddie could not tell why he would sound that way.

"You're right, I did. Maddie!" Katyusha beamed at her. She jerked around to face them, as though she had not been listening the entire time. "Ivan brought your shoes." Maddie was confused for a second, and it showed on her face. "You must have left them in our room," Katyusha added helpfully. _Oh, yes,_ Maddie remembered slipping her shoes off her feet beneath the wide coffee table, and must have left them when she limped out in search of stitches.

"Thank you," she laughed, "but I don't think it will fit on my foot now." She raised her foot on the back of the couch to show its sheer size with all the bandages. Katyusha began to laugh, but Ivan's eyes only narrowed in thought. After a while, she retracted her leg from the height of the sofa and dropped it back to the ground. "I'll take them back to my room." She hobbled up to her feet and hopped around the length of the couch towards the two. In the background, the doctor was watching her disapprovingly.

"You really shouldn't hop around like that. At some point, you will fall and it will hurt immensely." He was trying to convince her to use someone as a crutch to help her get around, but she felt bad about forcing someone to do that. "_Please_, find someone to help you around. As much as I enjoy your company, I think it would be safe to say that it would be unpleasant to see you back here again." Maddie could not help but laugh at his joke, and as she did so, still perched upon her good foot, she began to fall over.

Luckily for her, something caught her and prevented the very situation that Dr. Wang had just been describing.

"Like that," he sighed and looked above Maddie's crumpled form. "Perhaps you should be the one to do so, as you seem to have had quick enough reflexes to prevent me from re-stitching the poor girl's wound closed _already_." She suddenly became aware of a rather large pair of hands positioned below her armpits, holding her steady so she would not fall. A tinge of heat spilled across her cheeks, which she concluded was from embarrassment. At the doctor's words, she felt Ivan's arms stiffen, and promptly place her back upon her balance.

"I would do it myself, brother, but I don't think I am strong enough." She then realized just what the doctor had suggested. "Maddie here is more muscular than she looks!" From almost anyone else, Maddie would take that as a masked insult, but from Katyusha, she knew she was only being sincere.

"Oh, no," Maddie began, mildly embarrassed and shaking her head. "I don't need to put you through the trouble." _Really, I have already injured him enough, the last thing he needs is a pulled back muscle on my account._

"Madeline, perhaps you should do as the doctor wishes." Maddie looked up at the tall boy, slightly surprised at his reaction. She searched for any sign of malevolence in his violet eyes, but unlike Nikolaas' had, they only reflected simple honesty. Though, something in his eyes did almost will her to defy his proposed aid. _Only back to my room,_ she thought, heat not leaving her face, _if Al forgives me, I'm sure he will be willing to do the rest._

"Thank you." Ivan nodded at the doctor's gratitude, and Maddie dreaded being careened off his back like she had been before. She could admit that it had been fun, if only in a crazy, unpredictable, adrenaline rush kind of way. "I hate to push you out, but my room is not exactly a doctor's office. Now, if you don't mind?" She did not need any more of a hint than that.

Maddie thanked the doctor endlessly for his help, while he just claimed it was his job. She noted in her mind that despite it being his job, technically he was on vacation. She continued nonetheless, and the only thing that stopped the string of gratitude was Ivan placing an arm beneath her shoulder and across her back and pulling her towards the door. Katyusha picked up the shoes he had dropped to the floor in his haste to catch Maddie from falling, and followed them as they left. From through the closed door they heard one last "Keep off that foot!" and Maddie laughed.

"Here are your shoes," Katyusha handed them to her and Maddie took them gratefully.

"Thank you for all your help," she smiled at the two siblings, and Katyusha smiled back.

"You're very welcome. I should probably go and see if any stray glass is lying around still," Katyusha began to make her way down the hall to their room. "I will see you later, Maddie!" Beside herself, Maddie could see Ivan's mouth moving, as if he were attempting to speak, but the only thing to come out was a heavy sigh. Somehow, she had expected that. She guessed she was becoming used to the way he worked.

"I really wouldn't ask you to do this for me if the doctor hadn't ordered it," she offered, hoping it would bring some kind of justification to her actions.

"I do not mind, I suppose. Better me than some twenty-something year-old." Maddie knew in an instant that he had encountered the Dutch man on his way towards the room. She was not sure why he had mentioned it, however. She fell to sarcasm.

"Oh, yeah, because a tall scary Russian is so much better than a friendly Dutch guy." She cringed internally at her own usage of the word _friendly_. When he left, he had hardly seemed it.

"I could easily drop you right now, you know that?" A sly smile was plastered on his face, so she decided to play along.

"I am at your mercy, big strong Ivan." She feigned a swooning faint. _Puh-leeze._ To her astonishment, he did not snap at her farce. Surprisingly enough to her, he actually laughed. The sound of the chuckle bouncing through his thick throat sent the hairs on the back of her neck prickling up, though not from fear. It was not laced with animosity, so to her, it seemed a genuine, hearty laugh. He began to walk them in the direction of her room, still carrying on the echoing amusement.

She had to admit that, when it was real, she rather liked the sound of his laughter. From what she had seen so far of him, he was decidedly cold and emotionless, only showing a change in mood from condescending to slightly dangerous. Even his childish giggle had unsettled her, as she could sense it was not natural. So, to see that he could indeed take amusement in something without it being from the misfortune of others, well, that was satisfying.

The chuckle did not die in his throat until they reached her door, though she could not see what was so funny about what she had said. Maddie shook off the thought in favour of thanking him for his help.

"Thank you again for helping me, but I think I can get around on my own." She dropped the arm that had been draped across his back for support and made an unsteady jump to the door. One last huff of a laugh, then his eyes narrowed. It seemed as though he was trying to regain a fraction of composure.

"Well, I suppose. But if you do need help, you know where I am." After he spoke, Maddie saw a flash of a scowl skit across his face, as if his brain had not agreed with what his mouth had just said. Again, she pushed off the notion and instead opened the door, and hopped in.

"Thanks again," she spouted happily while closing the door. She heard heavy footsteps sounding further and further away as he went, and brought a cold hand up to her face. The icy feel of her fingers cooled the flesh of her face, which she guessed was warm from hopping around so much. She stood balanced for a moment before greeting her father, who was ever-present on the couch, it seemed.

"What happened to you?" His eyes widened at the sight of the heavily bandaged foot. She made a few wobbly jumps around the couch and fell on to it.

"Oh, I, uh, cut my foot on a piece of glass," she smiled sheepishly.

"Uh-huh," he nodded hesitantly. She knew that he did not doubt her words, just that fact that she had injured herself. Usually, her injuries came from roughhousing with her brother, or the result of one of their daredevil escapades. For her to be injured of her own accord was something almost alien to him, and he never did much like alien things.

"Maddie, are you okay?" Alfred darted out of one of the bedrooms at lightning speed to check out her wrapped foot.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. It's just a few stitches, nothing big." His eyes bugged out at the word _stitches_. She ignored this fact and instead figured it was prime time to apologize for her earlier behaviour. "Listen, Al, I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier. It got kind of out of hand, and I'm really sorry."

"It's fine, fine. I know you didn't mean it. You're too nice to mean that kinda stuff." Maddie was relieved. For about the last hour or so, she had felt increasingly guilty about not having apologized yet, so when she did. she felt a large weight lift off her chest. "But, how did you manage to cut your foot open? I mean, there's not really much to cut a foot on in this building."

Maddie was slightly surprised at just how fast Alfred had seemed to recover from the frankly embarrassing situation she had put him in downstairs. She was grateful that her brother was so easy to forgive her for her faults, so she happily explained the sequence of events that had unfolded when she had left him to fester in his emotions at lunch.

She was careful to not give away too much detail however. For instance, she left out the fact that the reason she had joined Ivan in his room was because she had been avoiding Alfred. Though, without that vital information, Alfred was left to his own imagination to uncover just exactly why she had been in there. Unwittingly, she had led her brother's brain on a roller coaster of possible situations.

Also, she decided to leave out the fact that she had enlisted the help of Nikolaas to find the doctor, and that he had piggy-backed her upstairs. She also had not mentioned that Ivan had piggy-backed her down. The reason she neglected to mention all these details was for the fact that Alfred would have gotten all worked up, and possibly done something brash. Maddie knew he was very protective of her, like any normal older brother would be. Sometimes, she liked to keep her private affairs to herself, hence the use of the word _private_.

When she went on to explain that the slice in flesh had resulted from a broken piece of glass that Ivan had not properly cleaned up, Alfred's mouth began to move in strange, erratic patterns. It looked like he was about to burst out in anger. She knew that he was trying to find a proper way to place the blame for the entire situation upon Ivan's shoulders, so Maddie quickly explained that it had all been an accident. Still, the look on her brother's face was skeptical.

"But, how do you know he didn't plant it there on purpose?"

"Alfred, he's not an evil genius bent on taking over the world, chill out." Maddie rolled her eyes at his antics, _he is definitely back to normal._

"But you never know!" He stayed crouched by her feet and looked up at her humorously, batting his eyes.

"Alfred, I don't know what you have against him, he's done nothing to you," she sighed, being realistic about the situation. His retort was quick.

"That's what you think!" By that point, he was just spouting useless defensive phrases. He knew he was wrong, but that did not mean he wanted to admit it. They started their usual routine of playful sarcasm, adopted from their father.

"Actually, I think you owe him an apology. If he's such a psycho, then it's best to get on his good side, eh?" Maddie tried to keep as straight a face as possible through her playful joking, and Alfred's eyes went wide in dramatized realization.

"You're right!" He stood from his crouching position dramatically. "If I don't get on his good side, you might not find me when you wake up in the morning." She decided to humour him.

"Then go, go! Before he makes up his mind!" She made sweeping gestures towards the door, directing him out. With a silly grin on his face, Alfred turned to leave.

"Here's hoping I come back alive!" He took an over-dramatic pause at the door handle, then rushed out in to the hall. "Goodbye cruel world!"

At Alfred's parting joke, Maddie began to laugh hysterically. Sure, the joke had been at Ivan's expense, but she was in a better mood that she had been earlier, and willing to take it with humour. Besides, this time she knew that Alfred was just playing around, and so did he. So, she continued with her frenzied laughter at their friendly banter, almost to the point where she was gasping for air and her stomach began to seize through the muscle spasms.

"You two are bonkers, I swear." She turned to her father inquisitively, amazed that he could say such a thing. She drew a sly smile across her face and moved closer to him.

"Hey, where do you think we get it from!" Maddie jabbed playfully at his shoulder, still clutching her aching stomach. He swatted at her hand as she continued to poke before realizing what she had just implied.

"Oi! What do you mean by that?" She would have taken the time to explain the intent behind her joke to him, but she was too busy clutching her stomach, and laughing, to do so. _Who knew being stuck inside because of a blizzard could be so amusing?_ She wondered if she was going moderately crazy from being cooped up inside for so long.

_Don't they call it cabin fever or something?_ She shook off the notion and slowed the spasms of her stomach muscles as Alfred re-entered through the door, triumphant smile sitting upon his face.

"I'm alive!" She could not help but begin to laugh again.

Her next several hours would include very little activity, mostly mindless chatter between her brother, her father and herself. She spent most of the time staring out the wide window, watching for any sign of the snow stopping. There had to be at least two feet more that there had been a few days earlier. As nightfall approached, she could have sworn that she saw a corner of darkening blue upon the horizon, in contrast to the then customary palette of greys and whites that was usually visible.

She hoped that tomorrow, she could go outside without being frozen solid.

By about six o'clock, all three of their stomachs were growling in protest, especially Maddie's. She had not had the chance to eat much at lunchtime, due to the unfortunate sequence of events that had occurred, and she realized just how famished she was feeling. The three of them quickly made their way downstairs, Maddie leading the way. They spent quite a while just sitting at one of the tables, eating and talking, just the three of them, like a real family dinner back home. The two teens would agree the food was much better than it would have been there, however.

About fifteen minutes in to their dinner, Maddie caught sight of Ivan and his two sisters settling at a table not too far away. From where she was sitting, she watched as Ivan consciously took the seat opposite the two girls, his back facing the wall. For several moments, she watched him, silently chewing on a dinner roll. His light blonde hair was tousled on his head, as if it had been scrunched out of frustration and he did not bother to smooth it. His eyes were void of all emotion as he emptily poked a fork around his plate. _Where did that warm laughter go?_

She felt kind of strange for watching him, so after some time, she diverted her eyes to the table. Around her, there was a soft chatter from the bustle of the tables. Even at her own table, her father and brother were speaking on a topic she did not quite care to distinguish. _Something about fish?_ She payed no attention, instead minding a growing feeling of nervousness from inside herself. Washes of goose bumps prickled up over the skin of her arms, and on the back of her neck right down to her tailbone. She knew that feeling.

She could feel someone watching her, and she was too hesitant to lift her eyes to see who it might be. As opposed to wildly whipping her focus around the room to recognize the culprit, she slowly turned her body as if she were trying to crack a tension in her back. As she did so, she scanned for any pair of eyes watching her. What she did not realize is that there were two pairs, not one.

Her body stiffened mid-crack as she made contact with the amber, an invisible shiver running the twisted length of her spine. However, she did not see the violet, which, at that moment, would have been a much more welcome gaze.

* * *

You have no idea how confusing it was for me to distinguish between the usage of the word "pallet" "pallate" or "palette" because usually, I am pretty good with homophones, just not when my brain is fried. ANYWAYS! Poor Maddie.. I feel like I am making her super-clumsy, but I assure you all that that problem will be healed soon! Our little Maddie is going to learn how to keep herself poised!

So, did you like it, not like it? Don't forget to review, it makes my day!


	12. Twelve: My Head is Pounding

**Author's Note: **I love fridays, even when it is pouring rain outside. Actually, maybe I like fridays _because_ it always seems to rain! Anyway, I have excellent news for you.. I have received a beautiful piece of art, and I think you should all go worship at the wonderful artist's feet.

http : / / winterdarknessxd (.) deviantart (.) com / art / Fem-Canada-Hetalia-164964163

ffffttt... my brain exploded, but I still managed to write. A million thanks, and I hope you all really enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Ivan pushed a lump of potatoes around his plate, eyes carefully focused on a rather stiff-looking Canadian girl. He scowled in spite of himself for watching as she twisted in her chair, then stopped all of a sudden. Straining his eyes in the direction she was facing, he tried to see what exactly had stopped her. Through the crowd of people, he caught sight of a familiar head of pointy dark brown hair and a narrowed pair of amber eyes.

_Oh, so that's what it is.  
_

He was enough of a man to admit that he had not been all that pleased when he saw the guy leave the very room where he had heard his sister's voice coming from. Something about him did not rub Ivan the right way, though he could not distinguish exactly what it was - well, besides the fact that he was at least five years older than the girls he seemed to want to hang around with.

That was why he felt the need to set him straight. However much he felt like pummeling the Dutch man's pretty face, deep forehead scar included, he could not bring himself to do anything more than glare at him through the crowd. When Maddie turned back around and sunk in her chair, the two men's eyes met. For a moment, Ivan felt a surge of adrenaline running through his body, like the feeling you get when you hear a train coming up behind you as you walk along the rust-laden tracks.

_What am I doing again?_

He wasn't quite sure, and after a second, Ivan relented his belligerent gaze and dropped his violet eyes to his half-eaten plate of food. He was no longer hungry, and he felt the intense desire to just leave. To leave the entire building and all its inhabitants behind in a swirling blast of cold air. Something about being cramped and stuffed in to the lodge was making him itch. Not the kind of physical itch that comes from a mosquito bite in the high, humid days of summer, but the kind of itch where you just cannot stay in one place.

Before his sisters could say anything, Ivan had walked half-way out the door and headed to the lounge. The heavy sound of his footsteps reverberated through the empty room as he slowly and decisively sat down on the chair closest to the window, far away from where he had spent the night before. The room was virtually empty, save for a tall man with dark brown hair and olive-toned skin sleeping in the seat closest to the fireplace, but he would not bother Ivan.

The room was almost deathly quiet, the only audible sounds being the hum of conversation from the kitchen and a soft snoring drifting across the room. If someone were to drop a pin from the end of the hallway, onto the thin, patterned carpet, he would have been able to hear it. Ivan tightly closed his eyes and tried to block out the last noises which would remind him of where he was, and took in a deep, slow breath. With his eyes shut, he could feel his other senses elevating, and the soft, repeated _tick_ of the wall clock sounded just like a jackhammer to him. _Maybe I should cover my ears as well,_ he thought resolutely.

He brought his cold hands carefully up to his ears. The sensation of his icy fingertips brushing against the heated flesh of the shell of his ear sent a shiver running the length of his spine. He did not let the reflex ripple through his body, instead remaining perfectly still. The lingering waves of heat pushed outwards from his cheeks and thawed his ever-cold grip on the side of his head. With both his sight and hearing now successfully blocked out, his other three senses were working overdrive.

The smell of wood smoke mixed with stuffy air invaded his nose, as well as the scent of dinner from the kitchen. He wished he could pick and choose which of the three he would be able to experience, which in his case would be the rustic smell of the fire. He could taste the bitter flavour of week-old-alcohol staining his tongue, as he had promised Katyusha he would not bring his _problem_ with him on their vacation. Though, there were some things that a toothbrush, and four minutes of scrubbing twice a day, could not erase. From the icy windowpane behind him, waves of cold air washed over the back of his neck, prickling up the tiny invisible hairs. Without the scarf to block out the penetrating ebbs of below-freezing air, the back of his neck all the way down to his shoulder blades was exposed to the sensation. The waves cascaded down the top of his shirt and created clusters of goose bumps all the way down his body.

Outside, the departing cloud cover left the surface of the world largely void of any heat source. Throughout the past few days, whatever small amount of sunlight that had penetrated through the thick layer of clouds had most likely reflected off the bright surface of the never-ending sea of snowdrifts and valleys and left the world to rejoin the clouds above. As cold as it had seemed to be during the blizzard, the constant cover had kept a small fraction of heat from escaping the earth's surface. Now, with the sky clear as any sailor would like it for navigation on a long sea voyage, the temperatures free-fell to well below freezing. Whatever moisture the air had held was effectively wiped clean. It was now too cold for it to continue snowing.

The still silence of the night went unnoticed to Ivan as he covered his ears, selfishly blocking himself out from the world around him. There was not even a whisper of wind as the darkening world grew colder and colder, never once considering the people it had trapped inside the resort. Through his blocked mental state and three elevated senses, Ivan could feel the approaching harshness of the night and realized he would have to move from his position by the window, lest he turn in to the "human Popsicle" Maddie and her brother so frequently described.

Just as he was about to open his eyes to the dim glow of the lounge once more, he felt a small warm hand settle on his shoulder. At first it startled him, as the contact had been terribly unexpected, then he realized who it must be. Katyusha's hands were larger than the one grasping his shoulder, and Natalya's were often cold like his. A faint smile appeared on his face as he spoke.

"My shoulder is not a place to rest your hand," he drawled out, opening his eyes while he did so. He was about to add 'Madeline' at the end of his veiled threat, but had to stop himself when he realized that that was not who was gripping him. He wondered how she got her hands so warm.

"Brother, you have been neglecting to spend time with us lately." For anyone else but him and Katyusha, her low, raspy voice would be unexpected from the serene and calm-looking girl, but despite his familiarity with it, it still sent the hairs on the back of his neck prickling up. This time he knew it was not from the cold. "You do not need anyone else but us, remember our promise, brother?"

He was not sure what she was getting on about, but he did know exactly which promise she was referring to.

A few years earlier, around the time they were preparing to leave Russia to go live in Canada with an estranged uncle, they had all promised that they would never leave one another alone in life. That particular revelation had come in a time of great sorrow for the three of them, with no one to turn to and nowhere to go but overseas. That cold winter's day, it had been a very simple promise between the three young teenagers, one that would keep them from ever feeling isolated, a feeling that Ivan himself hated desperately. Soon after though, he had realized his grave mistake.

Though he loved his sisters dearly, he found that the both of them became insufferably smothering and could not seem to leave him alone. The year after their arrival and after becoming settled in their new home in Canada, their uncle had died as well, unexpectedly. They had no other choice but to adjust to the new country by themselves, not having enough strength to return back to Russia, where they would have been alone as well. Katyusha was then old enough to take care of them by herself, and so they lived alone. They had their parents' entire life savings to live off of. Ivan did his best to savour his solitary time, the thing that he had once loathed.

In all honesty, he had not expected Natalya to keep hold of the promise like a life preserver, as if her liveliness depended on it. Surely, she didn't expect that the three of them would live together for the rest of their lives, never socializing with anyone else but each other. The notion was just too bizarre. However, as she stared at him with her deep cobalt eyes, he could see that she was harbouring a deep level of hurt. As he continued to say nothing, resorting only to cocking his head inquisitively at her, the ghost of pain hidden in them was replaced with determination.

"Brother," she began, deliberately attempting to soften her voice so it was no longer a growl. He expected her to remind him of their promise, as if he had not remembered, but instead found that she caught him off guard with her question. "What do you look for in a girl?"

His hand immediately darted up to his mouth, as it was all he could do to stop himself from stuttering._ Why the hell would she need to know that?_ He focused upon her eyes once more, searching for some kind of hidden agenda within her gaze, but could find none. Hesitantly, he questioned her motives.

"Why would you ever need to know that?" He watched as her eyes moved from pained, to determined, to angry.

"I just don't know what you see in _her_," Natalya hissed through hushed whispers. "You don't need _her_ like we need _you_, брат." Ivan felt like he had just been thrown into the briny ocean and was sinking into the thick sand below. He could not even begin to comprehend, or even process, the words that had just come from his little sister's mouth, let alone sort out what she was implying.

"What in the _hell _are you talking about?" was all he could muster out. _Did I just enter a parallel universe or something?_ An incredulous look upon his face, he watched her closely. Her dark eyes narrowed on his face and she let out a stifled snort-scoff. She finally let go of her tight grip on his shoulder, on which he could already feel a bruise forming, and spun to walk away.

"You don't even realize what you've done to yourself," were her last words as she left him sitting in the small chair next to the lounge window, more than sufficiently confused. Again, the cold chill ran the length of his spine and he remembered that - before Natalya had come to speak to him - he had decided upon moving away from the icy windowpane and warming up by the fire. Body more tired than his years should have attributed, he pulled himself upwards through great effort. Why did he all of a sudden feel so _tired_? He covered his mouth in a deep yawn and glanced at the clock. _Only seven, but it feels like I have been awake for days._

Almost stumbling, he quietly made his way through the near-empty lounge, towards his prospective bed for the night. It looked so inviting, and his body was so very tired, despite not having done any strenuous exercise. With a great thud, he fell upon the cushy surface of the couch, his feet dangling over the edge of the arm. The surface was warm from the embers of the fire, and he swiftly pulled the covers of a bunched-up blanket over his great size, making sure to keep his feet warm as well. Against a pillow, the bandages on his face scratched at the flesh of his cheeks, so before drifting off to sleep, he removed them. They were not helping anyway, as he had not done it properly as Maddie had. Another yawn and Ivan was quietly drifting off to sleep, comfortable in the warmth of the fire's glow.

_The sun is shining brightly upon the wind-blown grass, grown out from the previous season's rainfall. He is a tall man, but the height of the grass at least reaches his knees. Far off in the distance, the call of a crow can be heard, reverberating through the narrow valley. He steps haphazardly into the tall green and brown grass, crickets jumping from his path as he goes._

_The heat feels wonderful on his face, almost as if he were in front of a warm fireplace. The feeling brings a wide smile to his mouth and he bears a smile with a few crooked teeth to no one in particular. The sun is high in the sky, and even through the tall grass, he can feel its heat through his shoes. He kicks them off behind himself and continues to walk in the sunshine._

_He doesn't realize how hot he is beneath his heavy winter coat. Had he been wearing it the entire time? Unconcerned about losing it, he unravels his long scarf and shrugs off the jacket, leaving them behind in the grass, both leaving depressions in their wake. He is only wearing a thin white t-shirt beneath, and a pair of dark brown shorts he has never seen before in his life. Hadn't he just been wearing full length-pants not a moment ago? He disregards the fact and continues on, faster now, through the field of wheat._

_Upon the horizon, he can see the large yellow heads, swaying in the hot breeze and facing their brown middles towards the sun high in the sky. He feels an immense excitement well in his stomach, and begins to run, full speed, towards the lonely patch of sunflowers._

_As he runs, the wheat and rye begins to grow tall around his bare feet, and he extends his arms outwards to feel it lightly snap against his skin. The sensation is prickly, yet pleasant. Before he can enjoy it too much however, he feels that the grass has become thicker here._

_He opens his eyes and all he sees around him is the extraordinary height of the thick, green sunflower stalks. Smile still plastered upon his face, he traces his fingers along one of the broad leaves. He raises his eyes upwards, and can still feel the sun grazing the light blonde hair upon his head. He stands there reveling in the complete perfection of the moment, then, far in the distance, he hears the crow cry again._

_Accompanying the squawk, though, is a warm and friendly feminine voice. At first, he believes it to be his sister coming to greet him. He hears the voice again and begins to run through the stalks of the once again normal height sunflowers. All he can see around him is a vast field of yellow and brown, all pointing upwards to the sun. Where did the wheat and rye and grass go? He doesn't care._

_About 100 metres in front of him, he can make out the soft waves of strawberry-blonde hair bobbing through the heads of the flowers in his direction. Did his sister always have that colour of hair?_

_He is so excited to share the moment with someone, someone who will vouch for him when he retells the story of the sunflower field later, that he doesn't realize just how close he is to the other person. All in one moment, he is upon the ground with the green stalks surrounding him and a broken sunflower beneath his weight. A dull ache winds its way up his back but soon disappears, and he wrenches the snapped flower from underneath him._

_The watery voice apologizes for running into him, and he realizes it is not his older sister. She has a soft smile upon her face and is scratching sheepishly at the back of her neck, eyes transfixed on the flower in his hands. She tells him that she thought she was alone in the field, as she usually is, and offers her hand to help him up. He takes it graciously and feels her easily pull his immense weight up in to a standing position once more. He blushes when he realizes she is wearing nothing but a bathing suit. Was there even water somewhere nearby?  
_

_Again she smiles at him brightly, and he cannot help but smile back at her; Her composure is contagious. The subtle scent of maple leaves drifts from her and into his nose. He takes a deep breath and sighs contentedly, his violet eyes closing to the world. The smell grows stronger and mixes with the distinct scent of lilacs, and a small body presses against him._

_He cannot bring himself to open his eyes and he senses a pressure that wraps from the area below his chest all the way around to his back. He can feel the fabric making an impression on his white t-shirt and dampening its surface. She didn't look like she had just been in the water, did she?_

_He feels a heated breath upon his face. Before he can snap his eyes open, he feels a warm, wet pressure upon his left cheek, but as quickly as it is there, it is gone again. The pressure against his body dissipates, but he can still feel the lingering wetness staining the front of his shirt. A heat spills across his face and he hears her soft laugh growing further away through the field of sunflowers. He finally opens his eyes to find the sunflower he had been holding in his hand gone. He is all alone once again._

An obnoxious laugh some distance across the room made Ivan shoot his eyes open, effectively destroying the atmosphere of his dream. His mind was groggy with sleep and all he could do to keep himself from yelling at the voice was to pull the covers up over his head. The dream slowly drifted out of his grasp and he almost immediately forgot the minute details, the height of the grass, the scratchy call of the crow, the sunshine upon his face. The only thing that stayed with him was the damp feeling left upon his front. Even then, in the darkness of the early morning, the spot beneath his chest felt cooler than the rest of his body.

_Was I dreaming about sunflowers, or something?_ He tried to recall exactly what had happened in his dream, but found the effort to be futile, as he couldn't remember a thing. He lifted his head to glance around the room and saw a towering blonde man leaning over his shorter companion, finding the perfect angle to take a picture of his marker-abused face. He was probably the source of the obnoxious laugh.

Ivan rolled over on to his side and scanned the wall for the time. He had been sleeping for nearly eight hours, a full night's sleep. He cursed his body for becoming so dreadfully tired at seven PM and lifted himself to a sitting position. He promptly realized that he needed to use the washroom. Usually after sleep, it is the first thing people go to do, and he was no exception. Stretching, he carefully shuffled out of the room, startling the mischievous Danish man with his exit.

His entire time was spent, now more desperately, trying to remember what had occurred in his dream. Something in his chest was fluttering, and he did not like the feeling. As he came back down the stairs, all he could think about was his dream, so much so that he did not hear the approaching and uneven footsteps as he reached the bottom of the stairwell. All in one moment, he was sprawled overtop of someone and lying on the hard itchy surface of the hallway carpet. In the darkness, he could not see that someone else was trying to enter the stairwell at the same time that he was exiting it. He realized what had happened and felt like a complete idiot for letting his guard down.

He hoped that the large racket of two bodies slamming down on to the floor and a mix of Russian and English curses did not wake up anyone in the lounge, except maybe that Danish guy with the obnoxious laugh, he deserved to be woken up just as Ivan had. He rolled over on to his side and rubbed at his forehead where it had made contact with the ground. Whoever the person he had run into was, they seemed to be rubbing at their back and holding one of their legs tentatively.

"Ivan, is that you?"

He recognized the voice immediately, and let his head drop to the stiff carpet below, effectively darkening the already-promising bruise and irritating his bandageless nose. Of all the people he could have run into, why did it have to be _her_? Why couldn't it have been someone he actually _wanted_ to see slammed on to the ground? As if he hadn't already injured the poor girl enough.

"I'm sorry, I must not have been paying attention to where I was going," he sighed hopelessly and felt a hand grasp at his own. Somehow, she had crawled to her feet and was offering her hand to help him up. Surprisingly, she helped him up without much trouble, despite her injured foot. _Why does this all feel so familiar?_

"Oh, no, I should have heard someone coming down the stairs, it's my fault too." He noted her deliberate use of the word _too_, signifying that she was not placing sole blame upon herself. _So, she is learning._

Through the darkness, he could make out the shape of a smile on her mouth, and the shine of her warm violet eyes was reflected from the fireplace. The thought that both of them were awake at three o'clock in the morning never factored in to his mind. He remembered that on the ground he had seen her holding her abused foot.

"How's the injury?" He did not really know why he cared to ask, a slight scowl invisible on his face in the darkness.

"It's better," she shrugged in the dying glow of the fire, and he saw a shiver ripple through her body. At three in the morning, it was by far colder than it had been at seven, he had just been too preoccupied to notice. "Though it seems like every time we meet, I end up flat on my face. I'm usually pretty poised." She sighed, and he could not see the spreading pink making its way over her entire face and down her neck.

He chose to ignore her comment, though it rang fairly true for himself as well. "Why were you going upstairs anyway?" She was silent for a moment, most likely trying to decide the right way to word her answer.

"I was cold, so I was going to get another blanket, but I'm not really tired anymore." She laughed quietly, though a small echo still bounced off the walls, and into the surrounding areas.

"I've had a full night's sleep as well. I am wide awake." A chill washed over his bare arms. He longed for the fatigue he had had eight hours earlier, and the warmth of the couch in front of the fire. He knew he would never be able to get back to sleep that night, so he decided to do something useful with his free time. He looked down at her for a moment before asking, "Do you want to go play a game of air hockey?"

Now, Ivan didn't really understand why it was called "air hockey", because to him, it was more like that old American video game _Pong_, but with a smaller opening. Table hockey was more comparable to real hockey, but unfortunately, they didn't have that there. All the same, he would not ever waste an opportunity for a little rivalry and competition, and he expected her to feel the same.

"I'm gonna beat you so bad!" she chided, taking off hopping on one foot down the hallway towards the rec. room. He took a quick glance back in to the lounge to check to make sure no one had been woken up by her exclamation, then turned to leave himself.

Like anywhere in the resort besides the lounge, the rec. room was incredibly cold. Ivan cursed himself for not putting on a sweater, or a jacket, or _at least_ his scarf, to shield him from the temperature of the room. He shut the door behind himself, as the sound of two people yelling at each other over a game of air hockey would probably not ellicit the most pleasant of wake-up calls. Maddie was already plugging in the long cord that fell from the table, and the soft sound of fans buzzing within the table started up. He placed a hand over its surface and felt the steady stream of elevating air rush past his fingers.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with." He tipped his head upwards and cocked it sideways at her strange threat. The only light in the room came from the little fake scoreboard glowing from the table, and Ivan wondered why they had not bothered to turn on the overhead light. In the darkness, her eyes seemed to glow mauve with determination, the red lights reflecting off her violet irises. "The first game is in the dark, then if you still want to play, we can turn on the overhead light." The tone of her voice was slightly unsettling to him. When had she become so confident? He nodded and she dropped the little plastic puck.

Several times throughout their seven-game series, (upon which Maddie had insisted, "Just like the NHL," she had said,) the hard black puck had gone missing, and they had to spend quite some time searching for it in the darkness. They both decided it best to keep the lights off, so no one waking up in the middle of the night would find them.

By the third game, Ivan was glad that he had not put on a jacket. Even though it was only air hockey, they were both playing like it was a real game, each trying to out-score the other before twenty minutes were up. Sixty minutes would have been too much for one air hockey game, but three games in, beads of sweat had actually begun to dot his forehead and make his hair cling to his head in clumps. The notion was, frankly, ridiculous. Were he any less bored, he most likely would not have found himself in that situation, but by the fifteenth minute of the third game, he was getting desperate.

Maddie was well on her way to winning her third straight game. Sure, each time he had only been behind by one or two points, but a loss was a loss no matter which way you sliced it. He tried not to show his desperation in the darkness, choosing to keep fairly silent while she mostly talked. Quite a few times, he had capitalized on her distraction by scoring a lucky goal, but she usually came back within a few minutes. By game five, which Ivan counted himself lucky to have reached, as he had finally won game four, he was feeling pretty wiped out.

Some deep part of him wondered if she was letting him win, just so she could force a game seven, one of the most dramatic things that could happen to a hockey team with a 3-0 series deficit. As they continued with game six, it seemed to be getting easier for him to score, and half-way through the dramatic game seven, he actually believed that it was his skill that was defeating her. With five minutes left in the game, Ivan was up by four goals, but Maddie quickly pulled back ahead of him.

_So, she had been letting me win,_ he scowled in the growing light of a clear Thursday morning. Their little tournament had brought them both well into at least six-thirty in the morning. With all the searching for missing pucks and ten minute rests between games, time had flown by. As easily as he had guessed, Maddie won the seventh and final game, winning her the series. She beat him by five points. She stifled a victory cry, remembering the sleeping guests of the resort and fell down on the little sofa with a _thud_.

Most of the time, Ivan hated to lose. Generally speaking, the reason he lost anything was because of a lack of focus on his part, and the dumb luck of his opponent. This time, however, it was different. He settled himself on the arm of the couch and watched the rise and fall of Maddie's breathing. She was just as exhausted as he had been. _Who knew air hockey could be so physically exerting?_ Despite his intense desire to blame his loss on bad luck, he knew that he had simply been out-played, though he would never admit it to anyone if the subject came up.

"It looks like it's going to be pretty clear out today, beautiful even," she remarked, lifting her head to stare out the wide window. He watched carefully as her eyes widened in delight and realization. "We can finally go outside again!" she exclaimed, shooting up to her feet. He stayed seated on the sofa's arm and she began to jump around in joy._ Excited to go outside?_ Ivan scoffed internally at the thought.

In her delight, Maddie could not help herself. In an action of pure joy and happiness, she pulled Ivan into a tight hug and squeezed her arms around the width of his midsection. His body stiffened, and all at once, a thousand thoughts came rushing back in to his head. In that instant, he remembered the exact embrace and the missing sunflower from his dream. He could almost smell the maple leaves and lilacs on her body.

She let him go and rushed to the window, obviously unaware of the immense confusion she had just caused him. Without a moment's hesitation, Ivan left the room in a harried stupor, attempting to find some place of solace where he could be alone. Had he stayed a moment longer, he would have seen the shy Canadian girl's hand shoot up to her cheek, a thick red blush spreading across her rounded face as she realized exactly what she had just done. As it was, he did not. He only heard the pounding of his heart in his ears and the laboured breathing coming from his own distressed lungs.

_I hate it when Natalya is right.

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_

If you haven't already listened to _Beautiful_ by Trading Yesterday, or _Chasing the Sun_ by the Calling, I highly suggest you do so, as they are what plays on repeat in my head when I am writing. Aside from that, you'll notice I wrote another dream sequence.. I really do have quite a lot of fun with them! And about the air hockey... I really love the game, it's so frustrating but fun at the same time. I know what you're thinking, _Oh, you Canadians and your hockey,_ but seriously, the break between Eastern/Western Conference finals and Stanley Cup finals has deprived me this week.. On another completely unrelated note.. Lithuania should **so** be in the Eurovision final. I can't get Eastern European Funk out of my head!

Don't forget to leave a review! =]_  
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	13. Thirteen: I've Got a Bad Feeling

**Author's Note:** *FLAILS* Life is busy. This month I have a million things to do.. well maybe not a million, but you get the point. Exams, trips, grad stuff, work, (and not to mention watching hockey,) are keeping me very busy. Updates might be a bit more sporadic until July starts, when I am free to stay up into the wee hours of the morning writing! Until then, my next three weekends are pretty much booked solid. I just wanted to let you all know that, so you don't get worried about me. Life is giving me lemons and I am not making lemonade, I am cloning them to make super-lemons! (This has nothing to do with "fanfiction-lemons" by the way, I was just using a cliché to lighten your moods. Sorry if I accidentally got anyone's hopes up.. haha.) Onwards we must trek! I thank you for your patience!

* * *

_What? Wait.. what? Did I just... no. Nope.. definitely not._

He had been so cold. His entire body had felt frigid and stiff, though it had smelled faintly of sweat. She did not know why she had decided to embrace him, whether it be from the joy she had been feeling or some deep hidden desire bubbling up to the surface of her consciousness. He was just always _so damn cold_. It was almost like hugging old man winter himself, save for the rock hard body and all. Ivan definitely had a little bit of pudge to him.

_I shouldn't even know that. Why do I know that?  
_

Maddie had been sitting on the narrow edge of the window sill for over half-an-hour, staring out at the steep valley below and replaying the day's events in her mind. Only seven in the morning, and her day was already unnecessarily complicated. The crevices of the snowdrifts were not yet illuminated by the warmth of the sun, which would be late-coming in the early winter's morning. One of the taller mountain peaks in the distance had its zenith lighted by some of the sun's higher rays, as it pulled upwards over the mountains on the eastward side of the lodge. As quickly as the storm had appeared, so it had disappeared. The sky was perfectly cloudless.

At length, she sat silently, not even daring to move one inch, and waited for the slanted sunlight to reach the valley's bottom deep below. If anything, most people would be getting up to have breakfast, so she did not feel the necessity to budge from her spot; No one would want to play games at seven forty-five in the morning. For some time after that, she just sat facing the brightening world outside, consciously monitoring the rise and fall of her own chest as she breathed in and exhaled out.

She closed her eyes and recalled the way his body had stiffened and his pale flesh was almost ice-cold to the touch. Everything about him was pale and cold, even the emotion (or lack of it) in his voice. Most of the time, his actions and words were harsh, biting at the outermost corners of ones resolve, leaving them weak and defenseless. Sometimes, there was even a far-off aura hanging around him, leaving most people uncomfortable in his presence. All of these realizations that she came to understand, led her to one fact: despite him being increasingly difficult to read or get along with, Maddie was now comfortable with him.

She would not have been able to explain it to someone if they had asked her, but somehow, Ivan had ended up as her friend, at least that was how she saw it. The little complexities that caused rough bumps in his personality had smoothed themselves out in the short time she had spent with him.

Sometimes, he was incredibly intimidating. Sometimes, he was decisively cold in his actions. Sometimes, a hearty, sincere laugh echoed from deep within his throat and left a smile on her face, because she knew he was genuinely happy. Sometimes, just his complexities themselves made her smile.

What had started out as a pronounced rivalry had evolved into a new friendship, exactly what she had wanted when she heard they were coming back to the resort that winter. Through her brother's brash actions, both of their frost-related injuries, several stitches to the bottom of her foot, and seven games of air hockey, something had meshed between the two of them. But, apparently, that was not good enough for her.

_I just had to go and mess it all up. Why else would he leave so quickly?_

She cursed herself for being so caught up in the beauty of the arriving day.

_He probably doesn't like physical contact all that much. He doesn't even hug his sisters back._

By then, the sun was fully shining upon the rolling snowdrifts below, leaving invisible amounts of melt-water dribbling from their surfaces. Through the day, much more would be melting, she knew, though it would just cause the surface of the ground to become slick with thin ice. Despite that fact, the day was still to be considered irrevocably beautiful, and at least according to her, a perfect winter's day to be outside.

_I'll just leave him be for a while and spend some time outside._

Carefully, she finally rose to her feet. She was still alone in the room and it had to be at least eight-thirty in the morning. She had sat on the narrow window sill, watching the sun rise and waiting for her confusion to dissipate, for nearly two full hours. Easier than she had the night before, she hop-stepped out the door and left the stuffy smell of sweat and heavy breathing behind her. She met no one in the hallways as she limped towards the kitchen, as many of them were probably still fast asleep in the early hours of the morning. She found a table laden with fruit, picked up a handful of grapes and a perfectly ripe banana, and left the emptiness of the room without a word.

Back in the lounge, her brother was sleeping just as soundly as anyone else, and she moved to poke him with the hardened stem of the banana in her hand. Upon contact, his face scrunched for a moment, then fell back to its usual peaceful state - mouth ajar with a slight trail of drool leaking out, and cheek smashed against the pillow. Unsatisfied, she poked him again, this time harder with the heel of her hand and upon his shoulder. He grunted for quite some time before finally acknowledging her presence.

"Uhnngg.. go 'way..." he swatted a hand in her general direction, "s'not time fer school yet.." He slumped back down on the body of the couch and was soon snoring again.

"But, Al, it's beautiful outside today," she whispered excitedly. "Let's go eat breakfast outside!" She popped another grape in her mouth and waited for another drawn-out and slow reply.

"Mrnnn..." he turned over in his blankets and curled into a tight ball underneath them. "m too tiiiir'd." She furrowed her brows and decided upon one last prod. If he did not wake up after that, she would go outside alone. She shoved at his shoulder, but he just continued on snoring. She huffed impatiently and left him to his rest, passing an awakening Norwegian man with suspicious Sharpie marks all over his face. She could not help but chuckle when he caught sight of himself in the reflection of the window and started to kick at a sleeping form beside him.

"Jerk," he rushed past her towards one of the first floor rooms and she continued onwards to approach the front desk. The same girl who had been trying to check them in the first day was slumped in her chair, half-asleep with eyelids drooping heavily. Maddie figured it a prime opportunity to ask if they had permission to leave the building, since the girl was obviously not as alert as she would normally be. She stopped just in front of the girl and cleared her throat rather loudly. She jumped up suddenly, evidently startled, and straightened out her purple hair bow.

"Are we allowed to leave the building now?" She asked the girl politely, gesturing out the window behind her at the same time. "The blizzard has stopped." The girl looked completely confused for a moment before finally replying.

"Oh, yes.. yes.. brother said yes.." Maddie nodded and turned to depart, leaving the poor girl to get some sleep. She had probably been awake all night, though Maddie would never be able to discern just exactly why.

Limping upstairs proved to be a very difficult task. The night before, when the three of them had come down to have dinner, Alfred had helped her down the stairs. At that moment, standing at the bottom of a flight of particularly steep stairs, the task at hand seemed almost impossible. Going _down_ them was one thing, climbing _up_ was a whole other beast. Maddie was incredibly thankful that not too many people were awake to watch her awkwardly hop up one stair at a time. The entire process took her nearly five minutes.

Breathless, she at last reached the top step, and prayed that they would soon get the elevator fixed so she would not have to deal with the arduous process fifteen times a day. Had she not been injured, and had it been easy for her to climb back to her feet, she would have kissed the flat ground of the second floor before slipping silently into her room. As it was, she did not, instead favouring a distinctly Alfred-like fist-in-air pump.

When she entered the room, she found her father's usual reading spot on the couch to be vacant._ He's probably still asleep,_ she reminded herself to be completely silent, as her father was a fairly light sleeper. She gathered her things as swiftly as she could: gloves, scarf, a _clean_ pair of Alfred's socks, (the only thing that would fit over her bandaged foot,) her heavy winter jacket, and boots from the back of the small closet. She had to sit down so she could fit the socks over her feet, then slipped the dark grey boots over top, minding to keep the laces fairly loose. When she had finally accomplished that, she stood and steadied upon her feet.

It actually felt pretty good to her, almost like she was not even injured at all. She remembered the soft bandages on her hand and knew her red gloves would not fit over with them on it. She hastily unraveled the length and set it on the counter beside her. _My hand is pretty much healed anyway, what does it matter if I take the bandages off today or tomorrow?_ The back was slightly red and the afflicted skin had a sort of scarry gloss to it._ It's as good as it will be tomorrow,_ she shrugged and pulled the thick woolen gloves over both hands.

Wrestling the coat around her shoulders, the scarf in her arms and the doorknob and still-uneaten banana in her gloved hands, she slipped back out into the hallway, silence enveloping her once more. The way back down the stairs was much easier this time, as a) it was _down_, not up, and b) the soft surface of her bandaged foot was not directly touching the hard surface of the steps. Encased within her boot, the injury felt almost non-existent, and she walked with a barely noticeable limp. She reached level ground once more and made her way towards the door before anyone, either Roderich or Vash, could possibly stop her, wrapping her scarf and zipping her coat along the way.

The first detail she savoured upon stepping outside was the dearly missed presence of fresh air rushing into her lungs. It was incredibly cold air, and its dryness made her tongue thirst for water, but for her, the clarity of it overrode any of its less appealing qualities. For a few moments, all she did was stand there, deeply breathing in and out, allowing her lungs to become used to the sensation of fresh air once more. After that, she trekked through the deep snow, well up the the height of her leg, to find somewhere to sit down. Anyone inside the building who was awake must have thought she was a nutcase for being outside.

She found a high stump of a tree about 10 metres from the glass lounge doors and wiped it of the snow which was covering its surface. A bit of the snow stuck to her glove and melted from the warmth. She had really missed that sensation. Not even feeling the cold of the early morning, she sat down on the stump to eat the banana she still clasped in her hand. It really was quite a strange sight for anyone to see: a girl, wrapped thickly in winter clothes, sitting outside eating her breakfast just the day after an intense blizzard. _Maybe I am a nut job?_ She split the fruit in half between her two gloves and continued to eat.

Little wisps of breath trailed off into the slight breeze of the day and left crystals lingering on the top of her scarf. A smile of pure elation spread across her face, the edges of her mouth practically reaching her earlobes. With an almost-still wind rippling at her clothes, she buried her face in her hands.

The moment was only for her. It was not for the absent birds (gone south for the season,) not for any patron of the lodge, not for any other creature on the face of the earth except her. She had not realized just how much she had missed being able to have the freedom to wander outside as she pleased. Obviously, being cooped up inside did not bring out the better points of her equilibrium, if her injury was to be any judging point.

A quiet but constant tap at the window behind her made her snap out of her elation. In a mere second, she had cleared the smile from her face and brought her head from her hands. _Only for me,_ she thought. A surly gaze greeted her from the window, which was being projected from two teenage boys. One of them again tapped at the window and shrugged as if to say "What are you doing out there?"

The only things she left Roderich and Vash with were an innocent look and a shrug of her own shoulders. Without another glance, she turned back to the scene before her. Behind her, the two boys left the window, and returned to their work.

Once again, she was left by herself to absorb the chill and silence of the early morning sunshine. For a few minutes, she sat perfectly still, not bothering to eat the last bite of her breakfast. A short burst of wind came from behind her and ruffled the mussed hair on her head, bringing her back to the moment. From not too far in the distance, she heard the sudden distinct growl of a pained animal. It was a sort of low, howling sound that would not have been audible, if not for the still of the valley around her. She stayed completely still, waiting to see if the noise would sound again, and after about a minute or so of waiting, it did.

Now, normally, Maddie was pretty cautious about approaching wild animals. That being said, most of the time, the creatures which she encountered were not audibly injured. She could tell from the way the animal's howl died off in slow, rolling waves of sound, that it was in a great deal of pain. She decided to carefully approach the direction from which the noise was coming.

Had she been with Alfred, he would have gone running to the creature's aid without any notion of danger whatsoever, herself following close behind. But, because he was not there to lead her, she found herself approaching far slower than she normally would. She stepped as lightly as she could through the thick build-up of snow, so to not startle whatever it was. She did not want it to think she was coming to it as a predator, preying on a weak and sickly creature, so as she made her way over top of a small bump of snow, she did not make a sound.

She could still hear the pained moan of the creature, and by then it was a great deal louder than it had been previously, but for some reason, she could not see the animal. All she could see was the ever-extensive fields of snow that had been dumped upon the landscape. She scoured the earth for a sign of anything, and when she heard the noise once more, she started at just how close it had come from. She whipped her head to the left and darted her eyes over the whiteness of the land. She would have missed the poor creature, if not for the unmistakable drip of steely red coming from its shoulder, making a sickly pool of blood in the crisp white snow.

Its pristine white coat had been stained on the right shoulder by a tear in the flesh of sorts. Besides the red-stained shoulder, the pitch black nose and the deep brown eyes, the creature completely blended in to the planes of snow surrounding it. The end of its snout was twitching rapidly, as it could sense the approach of an unfamiliar being. Its paws were splayed out helplessly as if the creature had collapsed with no energy left in its weary bones. Maddie regarded the steady trail of pink-drip snow leading away from the beast. Obviously, it had come a long way to rest near the lodge.

She was still about six metres away from it, contemplating upon the best way to get nearer, without startling it. She took a painstakingly slow step towards the animal, and had to stop mid-step as it bore its teeth in a half-hearted growl. Maddie began to hum softly, attempting to soothe its nerves (and her own,) and the creature relented, letting its head fall back to the soft snow. Still humming, she gently came to a stop directly in front of its right shoulder, and knelt down to the ground.

She removed her glove from her right hand and slowly reached out to smooth the fur surrounding the canine's pointed ears. For a moment, the creature tensed beneath her touch, but then gently leaned into her hand, clearly enjoying the contact. It gave a soft whimper as she moved her other hand, now too un-gloved, to inspect the damage done to the shoulder. The blood surrounding it was drying slowly, with not too much new liquid leaking out. The wound looked suspiciously human-caused, like a bullet had deeply grazed the animal's haunch and had continued on its intended path. That was, if the creature itself was not the intended target.

Maddie mentally reprimanded herself for leaving the length of bandages behind in her room, as it would have come in handy at that exact moment. Standing up cautiously, so she would not cause the animal to bolt, she craned her neck back towards the lounge doors. Standing there was a familiar presence. _Anyone but him,_ she sighed miserably. Dark brown hair standing up on end, a deeply embedded cut scarring the forehead, muscle-laden arm outstretched to rest on the edge of the door frame, Nikolaas was intently staring out the window, almost precisely in her direction. Despite her earlier apprehensive feelings about him, she had no choice but to wave him over to help.

She started to gesture, her arms waving high above her head, and instantly, his amber eyes settled upon her. She would have bothered to feel slightly uncomfortable, if not for the clearly distressed animal at her side. She needed someone to either run and get the bandages for her, or someone to watch the injured canine while she ran to grab them herself. Apparently understanding her wild arm-waving, he calmly stepped outside, letting the door close softly behind him. She knelt down to the creature's side once more as he jogged up beside her.

"What's the matter?" He settled a nimble hand upon her shoulder and she nodded in the direction of the animal.

"I need someone to stay here and watch this dog while I run inside and get bandages to stop the bleeding," she said simply. His eyes trailed from her face, down to the injured shoulder of the animal, expression not changing the entire way. As he bent down to get a closer look at the wound, it started to growl at him fiercely, with all the strength it could muster. Immediately, he jumped back from surprise.

"It seems perfectly fine to me," he shrugged passively. "Maybe you should just leave it." Maddie's eyes widened incredulously, focusing back upon the injured creature. The dog was burly and fairly thick-coated, its snout not projecting very far from its face. Since halting its intense growling at Nikolaas, it had begun to breathe rather heavily, the rise and fall of its chest certainly unsteady. Its legs were decidedly short for a canine of that size, and its tail had been cropped near the base, though it clearly had been very beautiful in its length. As it laid there helplessly, giving off a slight whimper every few seconds, Maddie thought the dog almost looked like a young polar bear. _Almost._

"Just, stay here with it, please?" She gave him a look of pure desperation as she blindly caressed the creature's ear behind her line of vision.

"Fine." He crossed his arms and stayed completely stationary where he stood. Maddie took that as help enough and gave to animal one last pat before rising to her feet. Without a word, she left Nikolaas alone with the hostile canine and took off in an awkward limping run back towards the doors, boots sinking deep into the snow along the way. In all reality, she was not advancing any faster than she would have been if she were walking, but the action of running gave her a sense of urgency and purpose. As she burst into the lounge she passed Vash in her rush, and called out haphazardly behind herself:

"Go outside and watch to make sure that dog doesn't go anywhere!"

The first thing she decided upon doing was most certainly her most difficult task: getting upstairs to her room swiftly, and retrieving the pile of bandages from the counter, all without waking her father, unless he was already awake, which in that case, she would enlist his help. Snow easily melting from her boots, she left little puddles of water on each step as she went, quicker than last time as she then had a purpose for hastiness. Only her second attempt up the stairs by herself and she had cut her time better than in half. Still, the time spent climbing up a staircase was painstakingly slow.

So, when she finally reached the top, she made it a point to get in, out, and back down the stairs as quickly as possible. Disregarding the fact that her father was likely still asleep (as there was no noise coming from the room,) she tore into the room and grabbed the little pile of cloth from the counter.

_Who cares if he wakes up,_ she thought, _it's nearly nine o'clock anyways._ With that thought embedded in her brain, she did not bother to close the door deathly gently, most likely leaving a rather irate and awakening English gentleman cursing for being woken so abruptly. The impression of the contradictory personality traits of her father kept her in high spirits as she raced back down to ground level.

The second thing Maddie decided that it was best she did was to grab something from the kitchen for the suffering animal to eat. Anything would do really, as it was probably starving. She made quite a few assumptions in her haste to get back to the creature's side, grabbing the first two things she could reach before turning back to rush outside. Completely disregarding her own throbbing pain coming from inside her boot, she whipped back through the lounge and pushed open the heavy doors as deftly as she possibly could.

In the distance, she could make out the hunched shape of the shorter blonde man, Nikolaas still with his arms crossed and standing perfectly upright. He didn't even care that the animal was suffering. Either that, or he just did not see the point in helping a creature already so far gone. She took off running towards the two men, bandages in one hand and nourishment for the dog in the other. Upon covering the short distance, she fell immediately to her knees and dropped everything she was holding.

As soon as she approached, the animal had relented its constant growling in favour of lying immeasurably still in the darkened snow. Maddie gently took its front right paw in her hand and lifted the leg slowly, slipping the mass of bandages underneath it as she did so. The animal winced under the sudden pressure but she began to hum again to soothe it, quickly and lightly wrapping the wide shoulder as it was distracted.

"Do you suppose we should bring it in the building? Are you sure it's safe?" From a few feet behind her, Vash was watching intently, as if judging the reaction of the canine to Maddie's soft touch.

"Does it look vicious to you? _Of course_ we should help it!" She spoke in a hushed whisper, so to not frighten the pure white creature

"It looks too far gone, if you ask me," Nikolaas said simply. Maddie returned her eyes to the unsteady rise and fall of its breathing and let them fall to the red-soaked ground beneath it. What a completely jerk-ish thing to say. She could see that the animal was in a great deal of pain, but that was no reason to leave it to die. She had already made up her mind, and she would help this dog no matter how hard it may be.

"How would you feel if someone shot you, and anyone who came across you left you to die?" She asked this with a certain defiance, reflective of years yet un-lived in her relatively young age, and a determined glint brightening her eyes. Nikolaas did not say a word, only turned away to face the distance and ignore the other two outside with him. Maddie let him be, and turned herself to face Vash.

"How are we going to get it inside?"

Maddie contemplated his query for a moment, absently running her hand through the ruffled fur of the injured animal. They had to find some way of moving it without disturbing its wound, a difficult job across uneven and sloping snowy ground.

"There's no other way, we'll have to carry it." she sighed. "All of us." She shot a dirty look at the back of Nikolaas' head. She just didn't understand why he disliked the creature so much. Then again, the animal seemed to have taken an immediate disliking to him._ Aren't animals supposed to be able to sense danger before people can?_ He slowly turned back to meet her leering gaze, his face completely void of any perceivable emotion. Without a word, he knelt down and scooped up the protesting and growling canine in his arms.

_That dog really does not like him,_ Maddie thought.

"Wait, don't hurt it!" She roared out. Immediately, he whipped around to face her.

"Do you want my help or not?" For a moment, she was immovably frozen, either from fear or shock, she could not tell. The wounded animal wriggled in his strong arms, desperately trying to put an end to its own pain. Her heart melted at the sight and she came back to reality.

"Not if you're going to be a jerk about it!" She snapped at him, in a moment of rare anger from her. It seemed like something about the lodge was provoking her to exercise the latter part of her passive-aggressive personality. There was really no better way she could explain it than being cooped up inside.

With a look of annoyance on his face, Nikolaas trudged over to where Vash was standing, mouth slightly agape but eyes drawn narrow, and shoveled the whimpering form into his arms. The shorter man struggled for a second underneath the sudden weight, but soon easily adjusted. Without another word, the Dutch man begrudgingly stomped back to the glass lounge doors, disappearing in the shadows of the building.

Maddie rushed to Vash and the injured creature in his arms, leading him back towards the door and helping to soften the ride for the canine by flattening out lumps of snow which the man would have stepped on.

They both decided that when they arrived at the doors, she would open them and they would take the wounded animal to a storage room within the building, out of the way of prying and worrying eyes of resort patrons. From there, she decided she would try to aid the dog and get it healthy and moving again. Hopefully, it would make an easy recovery, as she rather liked the creature.

She remembered the threatening growl of the pure-white canine when Nikolaas had approached it, and shook her head sadly.

Animals really can tell of approaching danger before humans can.

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I once had a Dutch neighbour that absolutely hated dogs, if you're wondering where I got that from. I'm not saying that all Dutch people hate dogs, anything but! I am just clarifying where I borrowed that character point from, for the purpose of this story. I actually am a fan of NethCan, but RusCan is still #1 in my books!

Anyway.. I hope you all liked it.. and I hope you all have an awesome week.. and I hope you all review.. and I hope I can survive these next few weeks!

P.S. - I switched up my chapter titling because I was getting bored of it.


	14. Fourteen: I've Started Bleeding

**Author's Note:** I wasn't kidding when I said I had a bunch of stuff going on, which includes reading a certain book. I am guilty of letting what I am reading at the moment influence my writing. While you read this chapter, I strongly urge you to guess just what book it was that I was reading this week. If you guess right you win. I don't know what you win, but you win! Happy readings!

* * *

Ivan repeatedly drummed his fingertips upon the table-top, waiting for something, _anything_, to interrupt the vexing noise that he himself was creating. It was not that he was waiting for anything in particular out of the walls surrounding him, but for the first time in his life, he actually wanted to have someone to talk at him.

Not _to_ him or _with_ him. _At_ him.

He sat facing the window, curtains drawn as far back as they possibly could be, leaving the glass wide open and exposed to the sunlight. Once or twice, he watched as a gust of wind would come up and ripple the thin branches of the conifers closest to the building. The sickly needles would break off and bunches would cascade down to the pristine white snow below.

False promises.

He could feel a slight heat gracing his skin, as he sat near near enough to the window to have the sun light his skin to a ghostly shade of pale white. He hated how he always seemed to become even paler when he stepped into the sun. Through any amount of sunlight his skin received, he would still be paler than ever.

Sitting at the small kitchen table, his legs rubbing up against the column supporting it from the centre, he knew that the warmth that the winter sunlight was promising was a complete and utter lie. The world outside would be just as cold as his fingertips, incessantly drumming against the wood-grain surface. At some point, one of the pointer nails had been split by a small but thick protrusion of a wood-sliver projecting from the flat surface. The small amount of blood that had come was dried to a burnt red colour.

False hopes.

Still, something inside of him stopped him from chucking heavy objects at the fragile window. It would have been so easy - and satisfying - to break it, and to hear the comforting shatter of a million little shards falling to the earth and ground below. He was so overwhelmed with thoughts that he felt as if he were sinking, one inch at a time, into a bog of hidden quicksand. Only, instead of his feet being swallowed by the pit first, it was his head.

His body felt as cold as the most severe winter day he had ever experienced, yet he still could not look at the world outside with any shred of distaste. The early morning's slanted sunlight filtered through a mass of trees in the distance, just giving off enough of an effect for him to hold his breath for a split-second. A sort of wisping fog had settled around the bases of the tall trees, which directly contrasted with the clear, brightening blue sky high above. The entire sight was almost beautiful. _Almost_.

He had been sitting in silence, aside from his constant drumming, for an immeasurable length of time. Had it been ten minutes? Had it been forty minutes? Had it been two hours? He did not know, nor did he really care. What he really needed was something to settle himself internally, but unfortunately for him, that _something_ was nowhere to be found.

He took it upon himself to isolate and shove his thoughts aside so he could focus on a few of the more perplexing ones. Ever since he had left the girl alone in the stuffy room, he had been trying to explain away his sudden awkwardness. He hated feeling like a stranger in his own skin, and something about her had pushed him to feel that way.

He blamed it on the sobriety.

All he really wanted was to be at home, sleeping in his warm bed, never having even met Alfred, or Maddie, or Nikolaas, (though to the last he had not formally been introduced.) He wanted to return to how things had been before.

Keeping that in mind, he ordered himself to snap back to reality, and start being Ivan again. Ee-vohn, not Eye-van. She did not even know how to pronounce his name properly, though he purposely forgot the fact that he had neglected to correct her the first time she had uttered it. He straightened his body in the bending weight of the small chair and sat stock-still. Deep within his stomach, some muscle snapped, almost feeling like a spasm of resurgence.

A sly smile crossed his cracked lips, just the same as it had been the first day, when he had shamed her brother.

_Hello world,_

A menacing stretch of a grin.

_My name is Ee-vohn Braginski._

The corners of his lips almost met his earlobes.

_I am eighteen years old,_

A few crooked teeth reflected the empty sunlight.

_ And I am an emotionless robot._

He took a moment to breathe through his own lungs once again, as if he had been living as someone else for the past few days, then, satisfied with his pseudo-epiphany, he calmly and evenly lifted himself up out of the warped chair. The poor thing would probably never recover its original shape, which had been perfectly molded just like every other factory-built chair. There were probably millions of the exact same chair all over the world, and the disfiguration of one was hardly a loss.

The persistent echo of a door closing shut lingered in the empty room for several moments, before finally evaporating into silence. Little streams of dust particles swam through the rays of sun, drifting sporadically up and down and back and forth, seemingly never settling to the ground.

* * *

"And my brother is a little grumpy sometimes, but it's never anything a little siesta can't fix!" Ivan bobbed his head up and down emptily, not even bothering to absorb the words of the bubbly boy. He looked to be some sort of Mediterranean ethnicity, and the hint of an Italian accent had confirmed Ivan's suspicions. They were sitting in some room Ivan had not bothered to walk into before, but, just as he had expected, someone was there to talk at him.

Not _with_ him, but _at_ him.

For about the last half-hour or so, Ivan had been absently nodding his light blonde hair, while the boy, who had introduced himself as Feliciano, went on to spill his entire life story to him. Quite a few times, Ivan had let the menacing smile creep up on his face, but the Italian had taken it in the most non-threatening manner possible.

"You think that's funny? Well there was one time when.."

It did not matter what he was saying really. All that mattered was the fact that he was making some kind of background noise that would break the silence. A day earlier, Ivan would have wanted the silence, instead he was purposely seeking white noise.

As the boy continued to talk, Ivan's mind wandered to the winters of his childhood. There had been one time when, simultaneously, the temperatures had dropped to unforeseen lows and a power outage had occurred. He and his sisters had to all sleep in the same room, along with their parents, to preserve body heat. He wondered if any Italian families had ever had to do such a thing, and looked up at the auburn-haired boy. He was apparently on the topic of food at that point, babbling about fettuccine and ravioli. Ivan decided to interrupt him.

"What is the coldest temperature you have ever experienced?" The boy did not even flinch as he continued on with his spiel about which type of sauce he liked best, and why Italy was such a great place to live. Ivan had figured that that would happen if he tried to change the subject, and he did not mind. All he wanted from the kid was for him to continue to speak, and to not break the silence. Besides, Italy seemed like a nice place to visit from the way he was describing it.

"Feliciano," a stern voice apprehended the boy. "I've been looking for you." Suddenly, he went uncharacteristically quiet, bringing his seemingly never-ending rant to an abrupt close. Ivan rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Yes?" was the hopeful reply. From the corner of his eye, he could see the man's tall, built figure and naturally bleach-blonde hair. His icy blue eyes were focused on the squirming Italian, scrutinizing his every movement.

"Stop bothering the poor man, he does not need to have his ear talked-off."

"But, he's so fun to talk to Ludwig! He listens and laughs at my jokes, even when I'm not making any!"

_An Italian and a German,_ Ivan thought. He had never realized what an international spot that particular resort was. How many people of different nationalities had he met? Too many to count. Before he could turn to Feliciano to question him, both the stern German and the happy Italian had disappeared from sight. Apparently, he had zoned out again and let them escape from his company. Maybe, from the way Ludwig thought of it, Ivan was escaping from Feliciano's company.

Once again he was left alone when he did not want to be. Even though there was no one else around him, he was not surrounded by complete silence. In the absence of the cheery Italian's continual chatter, he could then hear a low whimper and whine coming from behind the wall. It struck him as odd that something would be making that kind of noise inside. Maybe, whatever it was, was injured? It sure sounded like it to him. He listened more closely as another whine sounded from behind the photo-frame covered wall.

He got up from his position in the rather comfortable chair, and leaned down slowly towards the wall, and consequently, the source of the noise. When he actually got closer to it, he discovered the noise was pretty loud. He had just been too preoccupied to hear it. As the low whimper continued, he made a firm tap on the wall. For a split-second, all noise stopped, but it resumed after the brief pause, just as it had sounded before. He needed to find the source of it.

He stood back up and straightened to his full height; The noise was much quieter up there. Even so, he swiftly walked to the door in the aforementioned wall and scanned the narrow corridor with his eyes. The closest room - the one that would have been harbouring the noise - had a closed and padlocked door. To him, it looked to be some kind of storage closet, which was the most likely reason why the door had to be locked in such a way. Even with the nicest of people around you, there would still be thieves everywhere.

A thin bar of light was leaking out from under the locked door, however. A dull white shine was reflecting off of the glossy surface of the floor. Strangely enough, the door was quite lifted off the ground, and if he were to estimate the height of the gap, he would say three finger widths. Three _Ivan_ finger widths. Needless to say, it was a considerable gap. He found himself instinctively leaning down to try and get a glimpse of the source of the sound on the other side of the door, which was still coming strongly.

Large hands flattening against the surface of the floor, he tried to squeeze his head close to the ground without actually touching it, but to no avail. As he attempted to figure out some other way of seeing underneath the door, he did not notice that the sound had stopped, and that there were tipping footsteps coming nearer to his face. He decided that to settle his head on the ground would be his best option. He did so, and as his eyes strained underneath the door, all they were met with was a great pink tongue.

He immediately drew back, startled by the unexpected contact, and crossed his legs while rubbing at his face. From the top of his forehead, and all down the front of his peeling nose, was a trail of sticky saliva. Still trying to erase it, and attempting to figure out exactly where it had come from, he saw a jet black nose poke a small distance out from underneath the door, sniffing the air.

_Did I just get licked by a dog?_

He wiped at the wetness on his nose while trying to avoid too much heavy contact. Some of the skin on his frost-nipped nose was beginning to come off in thin flakes, which Ivan was not too pleased with. He thought that he looked like some kind of sun-burned beach bum, except without the tan. The black nose of the canine was still poking out from underneath the door.

He extended a hand to make contact with it, but it promptly pulled away at first touch. He let his hand rest there for a moment, half-hidden by the weight of the door, then he felt a slow and tentative lick spread over its back. He surreptitiously flipped his hand over, letting the creature lick his palm, then moved his fingers to caress its snout. It was very soft. He stayed there for a few moments, just petting the dog's snout, not even hearing the approaching footsteps.

"I wouldn't let it touch me if I were you. It could be rabid."

Ivan did not jump at the sudden presence of a human voice, but that did not mean that it did not startle him. He knew that voice, but chose to ignore it completely. Maybe, if he did not acknowledge the presence, then the person would leave.

"It's badly injured, and probably won't live, if you ask me."

Ivan steeled his violet eyes upon the disappearance of his hand underneath the door.

"Your little friend decided to bring it in here and to try to nurse it back to health."

He focused his attention upon a fleck of black embedded within the desolate grey flooring.

"Waste of time, if you ask me."

Ivan began humming quietly to himself to drown out the Dutch-accented words.

"She is just too naïve to see that she is endangering the guests by bringing it in here."

He accidentally pinched the creature's nose too harshly, and it drew back for a second before returning to his touch.

"Not all that bright, if you ask me."

Ivan finally turned to the man, ominous smile plastered on his face, and violet eyes transfixed on the figure's face high above him.

"But I did not ask you, did I?"

In as short a time span as he had been below the man's gaze, he was then swiftly above it, his eyes at least two inches higher than the narrowed amber of Nikolaas. Ivan had not realized the height advantage he had on the man before then, but took it as a pleasant surprise. It would work to his advantage. The man's mouth began to twitch uncomfortably at the corners and he took a slight - almost invisible - step backwards.

Ivan cocked his head minutely to the side, keeping a look of nothing but innocence on his face so as to mask the dangerous feeling that was rising within him. Nikolaas regained his footing and studied Ivan carefully before speaking.

"You're a psycho, do you know that?" His voice was laced with animosity, clearly showing his wolfish aggression. Ivan arched his eyebrows, pretending as if he had not heard the man's insult.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that. Could you speak up?" Another twist of his head was accompanied by his sugar-sweet voice of innocence, which carried so much danger hidden deep within its words. The other man looked hesitant for a moment, then firmly placed both his hands upon Ivan's chest and pushed him backwards, or, at least, tried to.

"I said, you are a _fucking psycho_, kid." Ivan's body had not successfully moved back from the shove, but somehow, the other man had taken his boldness and become much more confident in his insults. Ivan took not even a moment to consider his reply.

"I do not appreciate being called.." he started, attempting to stifle his menacing giggle. Nikolaas waited anxiously for the completion of his sentence. "I do not appreciate being called a child," Ivan said frankly. "You are insinuating that because I am younger than you, that I have less worth than you." He settled one of his large hands upon the Dutch man's shoulder, an action which garnered less-than-positive reviews from the other, who was attempting to discretely wriggle free from the unwelcome grasp. "It is not wise to offend someone who already so dislikes you."

Nikolaas must not have found his last statement to be too amusing, because the next thing Ivan felt was the force of a strong fist colliding with the side of his head. He recoiled for a second, then let that unsettling smile grace his face again. Fists kept pounding into him - his chest, his head, his stomach, his back - but he did not react just yet. If he was going to execute his plan successfully, he would have to wait before he could retaliate.

A particularly swift and powerful punch made contact with his cheek, and the iron taste of blood seeped across his tongue and down his throat. The situation at that point was to be directed by Ivan's fight or flight instinct. He could leave right then, making the other man second-guess his actions and letting him be flooded with guilt, or he could plant an equally - if not more - intense hit to the side of his pretty face. The decision was a fairly easy one, considering the fact that Ivan's flight instinct had been discarded long ago.

Just as he had planned, his intimidation - which he found rather humorous, because he was younger than the one he was intimidating - had forced his opponent to make the first move. Ivan would always force others to make the first move. If anyone knew any better, they would understand that if you did not hit Ivan, Ivan would not hit you, plain and simple. However, just the aura that the tall Russian gave off, and a glare from his intense violet eyes, was enough to force someone to become physical to protect themselves. It had worked every time, without fail, and Nikolaas was no different from anyone who had ever taken a swing at him before.

Another blow was aimed at his face, though this time more noticably directed towards his nose. Before the fist could make contact, Ivan snagged it in one of his hands, and pulled it down easily to his side. As the impact had been drawing nearer, Ivan was sure that he had seen a fair amount of blood dripping down the whitened knuckles of the hand. He twisted the arm gently, and the man let out a hushed gasp of pain, panting from his furious assault. Ivan smiled calmly at him and Nikolaas' eyes burned with pure anger, not quite hatred, just adrenaline-driven anger. Ivan took the opportunity to land a fist upon the face he had been wanting to disfigure for some time.

There was a satisfying _crack_ as his fist met the other man's face. At first, Ivan had thought that he had broken something, perhaps the nose, or a cheekbone, but was disappointed when he realized that it was only a few of his own knuckles popping from the contact. Still, there was promising to be a considerable bruise on the Dutch man's cheek. Ivan relented his grasp on the man's twisted arm and let him pull himself back to a straightened standing position. For a few seconds, the only sound was that of Nikolaas' heavy breathing, and the steadied pop of Ivan's other knuckles, pushed against the inside of his other fist.

"We are on a level playing ground now, da?" Ivan mused upon seeing a small leakage of blood from the side of his companion's face. From behind the door, the animal was making pathetic barking sounds, stifled by the thickness of the wall and the weakness of its own lungs. Nikolaas lifted his eyes once more to meet Ivan, still towering above him, and wiped his face with a bloody hand, which only served to smear red liquid across his visage.

"I always knew you were a fucking nutcase." He took a tentative step forward and tried to lift himself up to Ivan's full height. "I could tell from the moment I saw you that you were a psycho," he grit through his teeth, a rolling trail of blood meeting the corner of his mouth and pinkening them. All Ivan could do was smile at the sight; It really had been too long since he had experienced the adrenaline rush of testosterone that came with a truly physical fist fight. Without the hesitation of a second, Nikolaas lunged at Ivan and successfully knocked him backwards.

Again, he could feel the strength behind the blows impacting all over his body, though it did not pain him. Ivan allowed himself to be easily and swiftly pushed backwards, and into the empty room where he had first heard the noise. Every once in a while, he would haphazardly throw a punch somewhere in the vicinity of Nikolaas' face, and he never failed to make successful contact. There was going to be a large purple bruise right above the man's left eye, settled just upon the bridge of his eye socket and stretching all the way through the length of his eyebrow.

For Ivan, being beaten to a pulp was not as painful as one might have imagined. The punches that his opponent did manage to land (the statistic being at about fifty percent, because even if Ivan was large, he was nothing comparable to slow, and he never believed the stereotype that if you're big, you must be slow,) merely felt like nudges through the thick fabric he always tended to wear. The impact of a clenched fist through his thick skin was diluted and cushioned by his weight. Being a little thicker than most people did have its advantages, despite what the magazines and television shows were deciding to tell everyone. Ivan had prided himself upon his ability to withstand a lot of damage before he began to feel the pain.

Between catching Nikolaas' punches and throwing a few of his own precisely aimed ones, he would find himself breathing heavily and subconsciously cursing out loud. At the same time, a jumble of Dutch insults and roars of frustration were being emitted by his opponent. It was, frankly, quite surprising to him that no one had heard their commotion so far, considering the level of noise emission that they had both reached. He attributed their solitude to the far-off and tucked away location of the room they were brawling in at the time. If they had been anywhere else in the building, people would have been clamouring on top of them to pull them apart, even before the first shove had been given off by Nikolaas.

Ivan took a lapse in focus on his companion's part as a prime opportunity to shove the man down to the ground and begin to beat repeatedly upon his firm chest. Beneath the immense and sudden full weight of the Russian, Nikolaas tried to free himself, while having the wind continually pushed out of his lungs by the impact of two heavy fists. Ivan pushed his assault upwards, but just before he could begin to attack the face, and deepen the thick scar upon his forehead, he felt something sharply kick between his legs. Without a moment's hesitation, he scrambled to his side and relieved Nikolaas of his weight.

"You fight dirty," Ivan spat out, blood leaking from the torn corner of his mouth. He was only answered by a smug grin and a snide response.

"Who ever said we were fighting fair?"

Ivan narrowed his eyes at the unexpected proposal, but before he could reply, a throttling punch was delivered to the left side of his jaw, accompanied by a kick to his side. Apparently, while in his brief moment of thought, Nikolaas had taken the opportunity to scramble to his feet and was repeatedly smashing the side of his foot into Ivan's kidneys. At last, the pain began to sink deeper than the top layer of his skin, and he felt like he was going to cough up blood. Instead of merely sitting there taking the beating like he had planned, he decided to grab the other man by the legs and topple him over.

The body hit the ground with a heavy smash, tipping over a side table with a light on it in the process. As he was falling, Ivan had ducked under the shadow of the Dutch man's body and had come out on the other side of him, at the end of his feet. Without thinking about why, Ivan stood quickly and yanked Nikolaas limply up with him. Coming to, the man took a firm grasp of the muscles leading up Ivan's neck and did not relent. In retaliation, Ivan briskly pushed both of them up against a wall, threatening to smash the others head against the wall.

From the moment that Ivan had lured the unwitting Nikolaas into a fight, he had not been entirely sure why he had wanted it so badly. There was not really anything immediately threatening about him, but some deep-seeded emotion inside of Ivan had told him - almost _commanded_ him - to prove his worth against the other man. Maybe it was pent-up energy and frustrations coming out at the expense of one person, or maybe it was just the fact that he felt like Nikolaas needed a good beat-down to set him straight. But, to set him straight about what?

Instead of animalistically smashing the head against the hard surface of the wall, Ivan promptly settled an arm around his neck and pulled him downwards. He was poised to bring his other arm in a downwards arc and make contact with the trapped face, but an intense concentration of pain in the vicinity of his arresting hand had him seeing stars and growling out of extreme distaste. At the same time, the heavy breathing of the person he had trapped in his grasp was racing across the back of his hand, leaving splattering trails of blood down its length. Anyone who heard the sound of the two of them fighting might have mistaken them for a pair of antler-locked stags.

Consequently, through the high level of noise in the room, they both could not hear the unmistakable approach of determined footsteps. At first, the footsteps were slow and even, most likely not expecting anything out of the ordinary from their destination. However, when Ivan let out a particularly loud growl as a pair of teeth sunk further and further into the soft crook of his thumb, the footsteps picked up in pace and determination. Just as he was about to sucker-punch Nikolaas from the bottom of his chin upwards, their brawling was interrupted by the owner of the unnoticed footsteps.

"Oh, holy hell!"

Immediately upon the addition of a third voice in the scuffle, both Ivan and Nikolaas darted their eyes to the door, the former instantly releasing the other man from his grip and allowing him to vulnerably fall face-first to the floor.

"You twats are bloody fucking ridiculous, brawling like animals," the voice added incredulously. Standing with one hand firmly placed on his hip, and the other clutching onto a milk jug which was half-filled with water, was a severely annoyed-looking English man. The intensity emanating from his emerald eyes caused both of the aggressive males to fall deathly silent, neither daring to make a sound.

A dribble of blood ran down Ivan's thumb and dripped into a tiny puddle on the hardwood floor. The room was so quiet that one could almost hear the collision of blood on blood as it combined with the already-present splotch of liquid that was slowly spreading thin across the ground.

"You'd think we were trapped in a zoo with the way you two are acting! Just like children, I swear."

He guiltily dropped his eyes to his blood-stained hands and discovered a teeth mark, newly imprinted between the base of his thumb and fore-finger.

_Thumpthump,_

and Ivan felt like a complete and utter idiot for letting himself get out of hand.

* * *

Oh those Russians.. The epic smack-down of two crazy men! I think both Ivan and Nikolaas have anger issues, at least in my story they do. They made me write it though, I swear. I think I'm going crazy. My characters are taking over my brain. Oh, and if you guessed that I was reading _Fight Club_ this week, you're right! On another completely unrelated note, NHL season is over and my Blackhawks won! That's one less thing for me to do, so hopefully when these next two weeks are over, I will have plenty of time to write, undisturbed!

Don't forget to review for sexy bloody Ivan, he wants your love! (I seriously need to take a detox from him, he's making me nutso.)


	15. Fifteen: I'm Lost in Your Tranquility

**Author's Note: **Yay, I'm back (kinda)! I am officially a high school graduate now. Hurray for me! I still have a few days of hectic-ness left, but I shall soon be liberated for the summer, and therefore be able to write more regularly. That is, if my sister doesn't keep bothering me. I swear she holds up my progress so much! She will just come in my room and sit down, and I feel obligated to talk to her (which stalls my writing). This happens about twenty times in a six-hour span. That is partially why this chapter took longer than normal. *shakes fist at sister* I love her to death, but sometimes she can be so irritating! Anyway, I'm venting here. Here is your long-awaited chapter fifteen! I hope it lives up to expectations!

* * *

Maddie stood back, tapping her foot impatiently, while Roderich was rummaging through a drawer trying to find a bottle of antiseptic for her new companion's bullet wound. Some time earlier, she and Vash had transported the animal to the safety of the building, and had placed it in a storage closet accessible by one of the lodge's more remote hallways. By the time they had reached the room itself, the canine had been making a considerable amount of noise, and they both found themselves lucky to have picked such a secluded room. Hidden in the recesses of the building's interior, the creature would be hard-pressed to be bothered, or bother anyone for that matter, at least, that was how Maddie saw the situation.

Upon further inspection of the wound, she found small traces of sharded metal still trapped in the exposed layers of skin. When she had tried, unsuccessfully, to gently remove the intrusions, the animal cowered back helplessly, not wanting anything to disturb its state of pain-induced comfort. It was in so much agony that it could not even feel the pain, that was how bad it was. Instead of aggressively trying to force her will upon the animal, she had relented and left it to go and find something - anything - to help her soothe it into submission. That was how she ended up standing behind Roderich, waiting for him to locate the promised antiseptic.

However, before she had even reached the chestnut-haired man, she had encountered her father. He looked as calm as his usual self, but upon her retelling of the story of the dog and its injured haunch, he immediately became wide-eyed and frantic. Maddie knew that her father had a special place in his heart for canines, and she could tell from the look on his face that she had just enlisted the help of another person in her cause. When he had asked what he could possibly do to help her in her case, all she could come up with was for him to get the animal some water to drink. The poor thing was probably parched at the least, if not completely dehydrated. As quickly as she had uttered the words, her father had disappeared in a flash, off on a mission to find water for his daughter's newest companion.

Maddie was quite pleased that she had more easily found people who were willing to help her in her current situation. When she had first waved Nikolaas over, and when he had seemed less than enthusiastic about aiding her, she had almost thought that everyone who she would come across would act that way. She thought they might all act as if the life and well-being of that animal - who had been just as happy and healthy as them at some point in its life - was wasting away with no chance of saving it. If those people had been in the place of the injured animal, how would they have felt about being left for dead? Luckily, others besides Nikolaas were more than willing to help. She did not really understand why he had such a hard time with aiding other creatures, and thought maybe it was just a formerly undiscovered side to his still-mysterious personality. Either way, he was of no help.

Finally, Roderich turned around from the cabinet he was facing, looking rather flustered, with an empty bottle labeled _antiseptic_ in hand. At first, Maddie was overjoyed at the sight of the little clear bottle in his hand, not realizing that it was, in fact, completely empty. She stuck her hand out gratefully to receive his find, and was a tad confused when he began to shake his head regretfully.

"It's empty," he stated, shaking the small bottle between his fingers and allowing her to hear the absence of swishing liquid inside. "I thought it might not be, but I guess it is. I am sorry." He shrugged in apathy, and Maddie's head hung slightly over her shoulders.

"It's perfectly fine," she sighed discontentedly, "I'm sure I can find more of it around here somewhere." Her mind immediately shot to Dr. Wang, with whom she had become all-too familiar. This time however, it was not her who was injured, and all she needed was the antiseptic and maybe some clean bandages. She would not need to bother him for much. She would not bother him for nearly as much as she had before.

"I know just who to ask," were the only words that she supplied the Austrian with before she left, moving much more agilely than she had been earlier. Standing in front of the still-opened cabinet drawer, Roderich tossed the empty bottle at the opening awkwardly. Apparently, he was just a small fraction too far away, as the plastic bounced off the rim of the drawer and came back to rest at his feet. He was only an expert on the hills.

Coming across a creature that was much worse off than she was in the injury department seemed to lessen the intensity of Maddie's own wounds, and allowed her to move around without much problem. Without thinking much about the subject, she had taken to being rather selfless in the specific situation. It was either that, or she was healing faster than humanly possible. She barely even felt the pain from her own injury any longer.

It only took her two minutes to climb the entire height of the stairs up to the second level of the building, where the doctor's room was located. When she reached the top, she settled for a moment, with her hand resting on the door-frame for support and heart beating moderately faster than it had been at the bottom. She absently dusted off her pant leg for white fur before beginning to move again. More tentatively, she limped towards the proper door, which she remembered to be Dr. Wang's, and raised her fist to rap her knuckles upon the hard surface. Before she could make contact, a voice interrupted her.

"Come in Madeline, it is not locked."

The confidence behind the voice, while it still being slightly frantic at the same time, startled Maddie. She had no idea how the man could have possibly known that it was her who had been approaching, or even how he knew someone _was_ approaching. She guessed, rather stereotypically, that he was trained in some form of meditation which allowed him to be much more alert than the normal person would be. She shook off the feeling and, with a bit of hesitance, she turned the door handle gently with as little noise as possible.

Upon the slight crack of an opening of the room door, the overbearing smell of blood and sweat rushed into Maddie's nose. The sudden appearance of the pungent scent froze her in her actions, leaving her standing in the half-open doorway. For such a strong smell to be coming from the room, Dr. Wang had to be dealing with something serious, but she could not hear or see anyone from her half-hidden position in the entrance. The doctor himself did not look particularly injured. Maddie took another step forward.

"Don't just stand out there, come in, come in." He frenetically ushered her to the kitchen table, shutting the door firmly behind him with a foot, and pulled out a chair to seat her compliant form upon it. He immediately went to the sink and began to run the water, wringing his hands underneath the constant stream. She darted her eyes about the room, but could still not locate the source of the strong smell of blood. She watched the doctor's hands as, with time, the skin turned from a stained red-ish color, to a slight pink, and finally back to his normal skin tone. There was no doubt that he had been treating someone not too long ago, and from the look and especially _the smell_ of it, they were badly hurt.

She waited, sitting stock-still, for him to turn around and indicate that he was no longer busy. However, when he did shut off the water he did not linger at the sink for long, instead heading towards the couch with a dampened cloth in hand. He looked as though he were the only paramedic in the middle of a car crash from his determined movements. She did not really want to interrupt his seemingly determined work, but felt she had no other choice. Maddie grabbed a hold of his sleeve before he could make it very far in the direction he had been going.

"How did you know it was me coming?"

He looked minutely surprised that such a polite girl would grab him so aggressively, but he did not anger easily. Instead, he softly smiled, then, keeping a hand loosely grasped on the damp cloth, turned his full attention towards her. Something about him was so serene and completely at ease, that even with the dire situation he was evidently in at the moment, he still took the time to speak slowly and evenly. That calming smile was still present upon his face.

"I heard your uneven steps," he said, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world, but not in a way that would leave her feeling foolish. She pondered the thought for only a split-second before deciding that the notion was feasible, and that she should have guessed that it had been the case. "What do you need, Madeline? Is your foot bothering you? I heard you have been hopping around on your own."

There was a look of accusation and disappointment on his face for only a small moment, then it twisted into slightly devious smile. Maddie immediately got the feeling that he had been stubborn in his youth, which explained his persistence in matters of his own expert knowledge, but he had not been without good humour. Evidently, he was not all that concerned about her willingness to accomplish things by herself, and was merely trying to lighten the atmosphere in spite of the heavy smell hanging in the air. The fumes were almost making her sick.

"Oh, no. I'm perfect," she lied, expertly hiding every tell from appearing in her eyes and in the twitches of her mouth. Her injury was bothering her, but there were definitely more pressing matters at hand. "I was only wondering if you had any antiseptic I could borrow for a while? And maybe some clean bandages?" She was forced to take another breath of the thick air, and nodded around the room. "If you have any left, that is."

"I would say yes," he started, "but I am afraid that I am using both of those requested items at the moment." He tipped his head in the direction of the couch, which left Maddie in a moment of light confusion. She had not seen anyone except the doctor in the room, and surely if there was another presence in the room, they would have spoken up some time earlier. Was he implying that there was someone on the couch that she had not even noticed? Maddie thought that she had taken notice of everything, and blinked her eyes harshly in an attempt to clear her clouded thoughts.

With her eyes scrunched up, she lifted herself and quietly made her way over to the couch to finally see where the heavy smell of blood and sweat was coming from. The doctor's half-step ahead of her quickly turned into an entire couch length as he knelt down beside the cushions of the sofa and extended the hand which housed the drying cloth. She peered over the tall back of the cushy piece of furniture, and at last regarded the source of the thick blood and sweat smell still lingering in the air.

"Holy shit."

She could not stop herself from swearing out loud, and at a considerable volume as well, because the sight was just so unexpected.

A fair amount of blood was leaking from the corner of the mouth, which looked as if it had been torn back slightly towards the ear. The lips were plump like fruit in summertime, but were stained dark red and purple by vicious bruising. Resting along the jawline was a rather nasty cluster of bruises, seemingly darkening by the second. The light hair was matted and clumped with blood and sweat, making it much darker than it normally would have been. A heavily swollen eyebrow and corresponding cheek almost completely blocked off the sight of one of the eyes, which continued to refuse to meet her wandering gaze. There was a hand limply resting upon the chest, roughly bandaged around the thumb and forefinger.

"What _the fuck_ happened to you?" she asked carelessly, shock clearly evident in her voice. The eyes would still not meet her own, which were widened by complete and utter shock. She had never seen someone so badly injured in her entire life. She was fortunate enough to have never been in a car accident, or to even have witnessed one. The person splayed out on the sofa in front of her definitely looked as if they had been in a severe wreck, but not necessarily the motorized kind. Maddie shook her head in disbelief.

"Aiyah, I know! There are injuries all over the place in this building," chided the doctor as he began to wipe at a continuous dribble of blood escaping from the mutilated mouth. When the lips parted to speak, she could see that the teeth were drowned in a sea of red.

"Don't really want to talk about it."

From the sound and slur of the voice, Maddie could tell he was missing a tooth or two. Lisping was an unwanted virtue that was particularly hard to control for the injured person. He sounded just like a child when they lost their first tooth, unable to control the movements of their tongue in the presence of the newly-formed gap in their mouth. A small spatter of blood was evident on his chin.

"He won't tell me how he got like this," Dr. Wang said rather impatiently, watching the patient intently, almost like he was trying to will the information out of the boy. Apparently, the doctor had been waiting for quite some time for the full details of the acquisition of such painful and excruciating cuts and bruises. He stopped dabbing at the leakage of red from the corner of his patient's mouth and looked as though he were considering something very important for a second. His eyes flashed with the mischievousness Maddie had seen earlier, and then he slowly pulled the damp cloth away from the trail of red.

"I will not clean you up any further until you recount the entire series of events that led to you having such horrible head wounds. Not to mention that, er, _bite mark_, on your hand." The patient groaned in dissatisfaction and tried to turn onto his side, dropping the bandaged hand to rest further down on his knee.

Instantaneously, thoughts started swimming in Maddie's head concerning the so-called bite mark. She eagerly stole a glance at his bandaged hand, and remembered the way her own had looked not too long ago. She could see no discernible trace of teeth marks poking out from the top or bottom of the wrapping, but that only meant that Dr. Wang had done his job properly. Just what kind of bite mark had afflicted his hand? A flutter in her chest sent her mind racing.

She had locked the storage closet on her way out, had she not?

But, there was a considerable gap from the surface of the floor to the bottom of the door, was there not?

Ivan had a fairly developed notion of common sense, did he not?

There was just no way her little Polar Bear could have done all this to her friend.

She had taken to calling the creature "Polar Bear" for lack of a better name, because of his appearance and likeness to the arctic species. When she had been trying to calm the creature, she had rubbed his ear gently and sung his title to him in soft lulls. _Polar Bear, Polar Bear,_ she had cooed, though it did little to arrest the increasingly panicked breathing of the animal. She thought perhaps she needed to come up with a better name for him. Maybe he did not like being compared to a polar bear. Maybe he just was not in the right state of mind. Maybe she was just being overly-ridiculous about her scrutiny of the animal's opinions. Either way, Maddie knew that there was no way that her Polar Bear would have harmed Ivan, even if he could have come in contact with him. But even that he could not do, as he was locked away in a storage closet. _So, how in the world.._

"It was nothing," he sighed, uncomfortably attempting to move his thumb in small circles. It was plainly obvious that it was _something_, because no one would ever wake up in the morning looking as bad as he did right then. She watched his eyes, one still hidden by the swelling of his cheek and eyebrow, as he continued to avoid her gaze. She stepped a little closer to the doctor in an attempt to get a closer look at his facial injuries, and maybe to catch an off-guard glance from him as she settled. As smoothly as she could, she sat down on the floor, propped up on her knees.

The stench of blood was even stronger than it had been before.

He did not yet spare a glance at her, instead choosing to eye the medical supplies resting on the coffee table. A small dribble of blood was still leaking from the torn corner of his ever-present crooked smile. Even as beaten up and bloodied as he was at that moment, he still wore the same unnerving smirk upon his face. The doctor sighed slightly impatiently.

"You have to tell me, or I am not cleaning you up any further." He was adamant about his proposition for the boy. Either Ivan would tell the doctor how he had been injured so badly and receive treatment, or he would remain silent and bleeding. Ivan still stayed tight-lipped and unresponsive. Maddie wondered what could be so bad about what had happened to him that he would refuse to recount the events in order to be treated and cleaned up. She had no idea why he was being so difficult to coerce.

"Just because you have back-up support now doesn't mean I will tell you," he rolled his eyes. Ivan was also adamant about his position on the issue. Maddie thought she had seen a split-second of a glance in her direction, but nearly missed it, as she was focused upon a darkening bruise discolouring his strong jawline. She would never admit it if someone asked her, but bruised and swollen Ivan was actually mildly attractive, even if his smell was not. Just a small cut or bruise was enough of a sign to show a sense of adventure and danger that was harboured within an individual. No one besides Alfred knew her well enough to know that she had a thing for guys of the adventurous type. She shook her head slightly.

"You are an idiot," she chided. A small, dark red - almost brown - stain was forming around the collar of his shirt, most likely from the trail of drips down his bruised neck. He did not say a word. "You can either sit here and keep bleeding," she said frankly, "or you can tell the story and get cleaned up." Ivan wore a look upon his face akin to a child that was evidently not going to get his way: pouting and slightly stubborn. He would still not look her in the eyes. She tried one last attempt.

"You're a bloody mess, and I'm not using the word bloody like my father does. You are _literally_ bleeding all over yourself."

Ivan's nose wrinkled at her harsh - but true - statement, which allowed a small flake of skin to become detached from his frost-nipped nose and turn pink with blood. His previous injury seemed to be healing without much fuss, though the progress may have been slightly hindered by his new ones. Maddie found it truly remarkable that Dr. Wang had not washed his hands of all their problems. Honestly, between Ivan and herself, they probably had enough injuries to keep him working through his entire vacation. Whether that was good or bad, she could not tell, because he would have either been bored if they had not been there, or been annoyed that his vacation was being disturbed because they had been present. From the look on his face at that moment, she could feel that he did not mind all that much.

"She's right you know. You _are_ bleeding all over yourself, and even on this nice couch." He had a mild joking tone, but soon became stern when it was apparent that Ivan was not taking him seriously. "I highly suggest that you spit it out, or I will have to turn you away in favour of more willing patients." He laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, which garnered a wince from him. Evidently, there were bruises and wounds that neither her nor the doctor could even see. Ivan's eyes, tinted a colder shade of indigo at that moment, flicked in her direction at last, before closing in apparent frustration.

His uninjured hand came up to brashly rub at his eyes, and he recoiled in pain. So natural in his movements, he had forgotten that his entire face was cut and bruised, and the contact had pained him through his stubbornness. That realization must have finally hit him, because the next words out of his mouth were the most clear and unslurred that he had uttered the entire time she had been there.

"Fine, but it's not as big a deal as you both think it is. Just keep that in mind when you get all worried about my sanity half-way through the story." He looked as though he were trying to sit in a more upright position, attempting to pull himself forward with his good hand. Maddie had to stop herself from reaching out to help him, because she knew he would not have accepted it anyway.

"Please remember, it is nothing," he reiterated, if only for good measure. She nodded silently, anxious to finally hear the full story.

"Finally!" the doctor exclaimed, and, with a sigh that was more dramatic than both needed or intended, Ivan began to retell the morning's events. Naturally, he skipped over the _early morning_, which Maddie was grateful for, because she figured the subject could be an awkward one, especially with a third person in the room. Even though she had spent a fair amount of time after the happenings doing nothing, basically just staring out the window, she had not figured out exactly what had happened for herself. She guessed that Ivan felt just the same. The place from where he did start his story was just as he was being left alone by an over-friendly Italian and his tall German friend.

Maddie's heart climbed into her throat and began to beat abnormally fast when he mentioned 'a dog on the other side of a storage closet door.' She tried as hard as she could to focus upon his words, in place of fixing her gaze through the bandages and trying to catch a glimpse of the so-called bite mark he had attained. She found herself consciously controlling the rise and fall of her chest and the blinking of her eyes as he came to the point in the story when he tried to look under the door through the gap near the floor. She could almost hear the creature's growl through the thickness of the walls as she assumed that he was about to retell how he had been mauled by a mysterious animal that could open unlocked doors all by itself. When he finished his sentence, she immediately began to apologize.

"I'm so sorry I didn't think that Polar Bear would hurt anyone and I certainly didn't think that he could harm anyone from behind closed doors an-" She cut off her own run-on sentence when she realized that the two males whose presence she was in were both watching her with the oddest looks on their faces. They looked like they had seen a third ear sprout right in the middle of her forehead or something. She took a pause of breath before speaking again. "What?"

Her question was wide-eyed and completely sincere, but still both men chose to chuckle at her naïvety. The doctor was the first to calm his soft laughter, but small splatters of blood stained the front of Ivan's shirt as he continued on. She shot a questioning look at Dr. Wang, but he gave no response, instead choosing to wait for Ivan to supply the answer to why they had been laughing.

"Did you not hear what I said, Maddie?" His laughter died and he gently wiped at his mouth with his other hand. Maddie blinked several times, trying to process what the Russian had just said. She shook her head no, she did not think she had misunderstood him, but perhaps she had.

"I said, the animal licked my face." She said nothing, trying to absorb just exactly what he had told her.

_Polar Bear licked him?_

She blinked in confusion.

_Then how is he so injured?_

"I don't see why you are always so quick to apologize, the thing didn't even hurt me."

Again, she could merely sit in silent disorientation, and wait for him to further explain himself.

"I was not finished my story yet." He clicked his tongue and settled further back into the cushions of the couch, hands carefully folding upon his stomach.

"Oh... I see." She flushed with embarrassment and averted her gaze towards the window. "I was just so sure that Polar Bear had caused all this trouble," she explained, leaning her back against the edge of the coffee table and closing her eyes.

"Maddie, the thing is behind a locked door. I can hardly believe that _you would believe_ that it was what caused all my injuries." Ivan shook his head slightly. "Besides, that dog, or _Polar Bear_ as you call it, is perfectly tame. At least, it was with me." Maddie heaved a deep sigh of relief and once again opened her eyes to watch Ivan as he shifted uncomfortably on the sofa.

"That is all very nice, happy," Dr. Wang interrupted, "but you still have not explained how you _did_ get your injuries." He prodded firmly at one of the boy's hidden bruises, which provoked him to continue his tale.

Conscience settled for the time being, Maddie had an easier time listening to Ivan's voice, no longer flooding with guilt at every word he said. There was still a slight slur in his words, caused by the missing tooth or two, but other than that, his voice was rather smooth, almost soothing. Maddie lost herself for a moment as he explained how he had been petting Polar Bear from the other side of the door, almost entirely missing the point when he said someone had joined him at the storage room entrance.

Beside her, the doctor was listening intently, absorbing every piece of information that came from the boys mouth without much of a problem at all. However, Maddie, so lost in the smooth calmness of the story, did not even react when Ivan recounted how Nikolaas had attacked him. There was such a great amount of composure in Ivan's voice as he explained how Nikolaas had begun to beat him with all the strength the man had, that she did not even comprehend the words that he was saying. She was lost in the tranquility of Ivan's being.

It was only when he detailed how he had landed his first punch that Maddie realized exactly what type of subject matter he was talking about.

She felt the muscles in her chest constrict in anxiety as she continued to listen, or rather, was forced to continue listening. She could not move, could not even dare to speak. She could almost hear the sickening crack of knuckles on firm flesh as Ivan maintained his calm composure in the face of reliving his agonizing injuries. She cringed, and he stayed emotionless, as he recalled how the Dutch man's jaw had sunk into the vulnerably tender skin in the crook of his thumb. She could scarcely believe that he had actually gotten into a physical fight with the intimidating man, though, Ivan was not exactly someone you could call 'non-threatening'. Still, she tried to steady her breathing as he at last finished his aggressive and testosterone-driven story.

"So, why exactly did you hit him, instead of just leaving him be?" The doctor must have overlooked the fact that he had another potential patient wandering around the building, bleeding everywhere, in favour of getting the answer to the question both he and she so desperately wanted the answer to. Ivan scoffed arrogantly and turned his full gaze upon the bewildered Canadian girl, as if speaking only to her.

"The bastard deserved a good sucker-punch to the face."

* * *

Oh, Ivan, you aggressive bastard! Oh, Maddie, can't you see that he did it all for you? Oh, Dr. Yao, why are you so much fun to write? I swear, I have too much fun with Doctor-China.

Oh, and something else I think I should mention.. kinda funny. Being a fan of all things Russian, during the Olympics I bought a Russian flag from a street vendor. Being Canadian, I also own a Canadian flag. Being of Dutch heritage, I recently bought a Netherlands flag for the World Cup (along with a Swiss flag, but that's beside the point.) So, now I have a flag of all three members of my messed up love-hate-wtf triangle from this story. I honestly think it is taking over my subconscious.

But anyway! How did you guys like it? Reviews make my life complete. Alors, n'oubliez pas! (So, don't forget!)


	16. Sixteen: I'm Killing the Pain

**Author's Note:** How is everybody doing lately? I hope all is well! I feel like I should hold this for another day or two, but I don't think the extra day of editing will do me any good. I've been kind of busy lately (though not _nearly_ as much as before) because I started writing a one-shot for a Russia/Canada FC contest over at dA. It's nice to actually write about summer and sunshine for a change. I think I just needed a little writing break from this story, and look at that, I fit my little mini-crisis all in a 10-day span. Yay for efficiency! So, yeah, read and enjoy, my friends!

* * *

_Elsewhere.._

Alfred buried the tip of his shovel into a snowdrift that was obstructing the view of one of the building's main windows. Surprisingly enough, the few short days worth of blizzard had not piled up all that high. The top of the pile may have reached the window, but it could have been much, much worse.

The blizzard could have never stopped.

After tossing the shovelful of snow over the edge of a cliff overlooking the ski hills, Alfred wiped a streak of beading sweat off his forehead with the back of his glove, which really did not do much considering they were made of leather. He planted his shovel head-first into the snow and leaned on it for support. He had been working fairly hard considering they had not been at it that long.

The five of them had been working for over an hour, and even considering the fact that it was not piled up that high, they had barely cleared three windows and doorways between them. When Roderich had approached him and asked him to help with the clearing of snow from the vital exits and windows of the building, Alfred had not expected such simple sounding work to take that long. After all, he was a hero, was he not? And heroes are always quick in their work! Still, the five of them - Roderich, Vash, Katyusha, Natalya and himself - seemed to be working at a snail's pace compared to what he thought they would be capable of.

He pulled a glove off with his teeth and leaned down towards the snow. He buried the hand beneath the white cover, but could barely feel the coolness on his fingertips, as they had not yet recovered full feeling since him almost being frozen to death. The snow immensely cooled his palm, and some of it even melted, leaving little beads of water on his hand to refreeze later. As he pulled off his other glove to do the same with that hand, he heard a scoff from a few metres beside him. He did not turn his head right away, but he saw Natalya out of the corner of his eye, watching him, and analyzing his every move.

"What, do I have something on my face?" He turned his eyes to her slowly. "Or am I just too good-looking for you to look away?" He stood up, back straight, but with his chest pushed out slightly. She only scoffed at him again, and he placed his ungloved hands back in his pockets dejectedly.

"You are supposed to be working. You do not look like you are working to me." She held the shovel in her left hand and had her right settled on the curve of her hip, eyes narrowed and eyebrows raised. Alfred could not escape the feeling that she was trying to make him burst into flames from the way she was looking at him. Her cobalt blue eyes almost whirlpooled with the hidden danger that was behind them. All he could do was defend his honour.

"Hey, I am working!" he exclaimed. "See, I've got my shovel right.." he started to dart his eyes about frantically in search of his shovel, not realizing he had dropped it when he went to take off his second glove. He almost missed it, but saw just the tip sticking out of a snow pile beside him, half-buried. "Here." He picked it up firmly in his hand. It was ice-cold to the touch. "My shovel is right here. See, I _was_ working."

Natalya rolled her eyes at him. "That's right. You _were_ working, so get back to it or I'll tell Vash you were slacking," she said sharply, and then spun to toss another shovelful of snow over the cliff's edge. Alfred, not wanting to be perceived as a slacker, immediately jumped into action. To prove his worth, he started to shovel snow faster than he had all day, if not merely to spite the dangerously quiet girl shoveling beside him.

Before long, nearly the entire right side of the window was uncovered. Alfred stood back slightly to admire his work while Natalya kept tossing snow. Once again, he leaned upon his shovel, which was stuck into the snow, and took a deep breath. Just as Natalya was finishing up her side of the snow drift, Vash came around the corner holding his own shovel.

"It looks like you don't need my help here." He gestured at the window with his gloved hand. "Natalya, you seem to have this covered." The Swiss man shot a glance at Alfred. "It's good to see that _someone_ is working." Those words stung Alfred, but before he could say anything in retaliation or defense, Vash had turned and started to leave. "Follow me, there are more drifts this way."

With a sly smirk on her face, Natalya kicked up a small amount of snow at Alfred with her boot. As she went to follow Vash for more work, she left Alfred feeling completely under-appreciated. More determined than ever, he took off after the two of them, dragging his shovel behind him and leaving a trail of flattened snow as he went.

"Hey Vash, wait, I _was_ working, you can even ask Natalya!"

* * *

Ivan had a killer headache, and Maddie's constant frustrated cries were not at all helping to ease the pain. It had not felt like much when he was being pummeled, but the outlasting effects of the numerous bruises and cuts covering his body were leaving him in a little less than what one would call 'prime condition'. Every part of his body seemed to ache, and he had probably swallowed enough blood to be tasting iron for at least a week straight. Delicious.

Thankfully, the doctor had at last decided to continue the treatment of his wounds, cleaning his face and waiting for the blood from his mouth to stop. The better half of a tooth had been knocked out in the brawl, but despite such a small missing piece compared to the size of his mouth, he still could not stop himself from slurring and lisping while he spoke.

Not that he was speaking much at all, because Maddie seemed to have that area covered.

He had stopped directly listening to her quite some time ago, around the time when she started to ramble on about personal well-being and a death wish. She must have thought that scolding him would do some kind of good, because she continued on with it even when it became painfully obvious that he was no longer listening to her words. He was staring at her while trying to bend his thumb without pain.

Instead of listening, he was focused on the way her lips moved so smoothly, because he was nearly one-hundred percent sure that he could see a gap from a missing tooth within her mouth. How she could speak so smoothly without lisping, he did not know, and he envied her for it. He knew it was a strange thing to be jealous of, but he prided himself on keeping his voice stoic and free of any inflection, and a slurring lisp was not something that could be counted as void of emotion. He kept to watching the movement of her mouth as she still spoke rapidly at him.

The doctor finished cleaning him up fairly quickly, because as Maddie continued to rant about how stupid Ivan was for getting into a fight with Nikolaas, Dr. Wang must have realized that the other man was also injured. Considering it was Ivan he had been fighting, it was a safe bet to make that he was probably bleeding profusely as well. For the most part, Ivan was cleaned up. His face was wiped of all erasable blood trails and only the bruises were left. Around his eye was still immensely swollen, but the only thing that could cure that would be time. The same went for the tear at the corner of his mouth, and the bite mark on his hand, and the jawline bruises. The skin on his nose was still healing as well.

Ivan barely noticed when the treatment stopped and the water at the sink began to run. He just closed his eyes and tried to drown out the sound of an increasingly-hoarse voice. Maddie had been half-yelling at him for so long that she was beginning to lose the ability to speak.

"I would hate to interrupt your ranting, Madeline," the doctor began, wringing his hands underneath the stream of water coming from the tap, "but I am afraid I will have to ask you to keep watch of my room as I go and try to help the other side of this mess." He pointed at Ivan, and Ivan smirked, disregarding the pain it caused him.

The doctor would have a hard time cleaning up _that_ mess.

"I trust you can do this for me?"

"Oh," she seemed to snap out of a frustration-induced daze and turned away from Ivan. "Sure, no problem, and I can keep an eye on this dunce and make sure he doesn't do anything else idiotic." She stuck a thumb out in Ivan's direction, and the older man began to laugh at Maddie's joke at his expense. Eyes narrowed, the Russian said nothing as the doctor gathered up his supplies in a neat little case and turned to leave. The door clicked shut and silence only remained for the duration of the man's steps as he headed downstairs in search of a bleeding Dutch man.

"I told you it was nothing." Ivan shook his head disapprovingly and sat up to face Maddie. "You didn't have to freak out about it." She crossed her arms and sat down on the edge of a nearby reclining chair, keeping her eyes focused directly on him. The look felt rather patronizing to him, and the following conversation left him feeling much the same.

"You really are an idiot, do you know that? Or were you not listening to me the last twenty minutes or so?" She started to subconsciously tap her foot against the leg of the coffee table.

"As a matter of fact I wasn't, but I doubt it was much different than what you just said to me." He watched her simmer for a second before adding, "I am not an idiot." She just rolled her eyes.

"Why else would you willingly get into a fist-fight with someone five years older than you, when you know you have to deal with seeing him for the next few days? The roads aren't open yet, you know that?"

Ivan stayed completely silent, internally debating whether or not he should tell her the whole truth on why he got into the fight in the first place. She still kept her arms firmly crossed over her chest, shaking her foot impatiently while waiting for him to say something, anything that would explain the reason why he had acted so boldly. Through one eyes peripheral vision, he could see her watching him expectantly, so he closed them both out of frustration and let a great sigh escape his lungs.

"What? What else could it be?" she prodded. "Could you not stop yourself from hitting him?" Ivan had never heard Maddie so worked up before, and he felt compelled to set her straight, so she may at least direct her anger and frustrations at the right person.

"Why are you defending him?" He blurted out, not able to stop the question from escaping his lips. She looked mildly astonished for a second, then he explained, "He called you stupid for trying to help that animal."

It was Maddie's turn to be silent at that point, as she blinked her eyes in confusion, a reflex that Ivan seemed to notice her doing more and more often around him. Her reflex immediately following her moment of confusion, however, was to defend herself.

"What a jerk, I'm not stupid!"

"Just as I am not an idiot." He raised his eyebrows, waiting for the apology he knew was coming. However, instead of immediately saying sorry, a smirk spread on Maddie's lips that seemed to have been pulled directly from his own. It was like looking in a mirror. The crooked upturn at the corner of the mouth, the location of the fractured tooth, the mischief in her eyes, it was all the same. She tapped her fingers upon the hard surface of the chair's arm while speaking.

"So," she clicked her tongue, and he cringed internally, because he knew what was coming. "You beat Nikolaas up because he insulted me?"

_Deny. Deny. Deny.  
_

"No." Normally he would accompany this with a convincing head shake, but he instead stayed completely still.

"So, what, are you some kind of women's rights activist then? Or do you just enjoy beating people's faces into the dust?"

"No," he said, still unmoving. Maddie raised an eyebrow sarcastically.

Now, in the short amount of time that Ivan had known her, Maddie had always laced her jokes with sarcasm. There must have been something about her quiet exterior that prompted her to use sarcasm as a form of wit, because when he had first met her, she seemed perfectly shy, if not a little bit afraid of him. What better way to compensate for a meek outward personality, than to have a witty and biting interior? Normally, sarcastic jokes only served to annoy him, as it was usually only the obnoxious jerks who decided to use them. However, something about the way she used them did not annoy him.

He liked Maddie's brand of sarcasm.

"Is that all you can say?" He considered her question for a moment before replying, matching the devious smirk on her face at the same time.

Decisively, he said, "No."

She started to laugh at the irony of his answer. He had half-expected that to happen when he replied, but when someone starts laughing, it is hard to not laugh along with them. It was not like it was that funny a joke or anything, but just the atmosphere of the room and the awkwardness of the situation made him burst out into laughter right along with her. The heavy smell of blood and sweat that clung to him seemed to be dissipating, if only the smallest bit. She of all people had to show up in the middle of his treatment, merely asking for antiseptic and bandages, but she had ended up with a lot more than that.

Maddie ended up with a battered and bruised Russian who had unadmittingly fought in her name.

For some reason or another, Ivan could not stop his laughter, deep and low, but not menacing. No thoughts were going through his head anymore, but the spasm of muscles in his stomach would not cease. The facial injuries he had received coupled with the permanent smile caused by the constant laughter made his face ache. Maddie's laughter died off into soft giggles, but he could not control himself to stop his own. He felt like a child, but if he was, at least he was a happy child. Even his headache seemed to have disappeared.

At some point, he thought he felt a hand clasping to his shoulder, and he could have sworn that he heard a voice trying to speak to him. Through the cloud of hysterical laughter, he inhaled an awkward amount of air and the laughs turned into coughs, which turned into a lack of air. All of a sudden he was choking and coughing and he could feel a warm wetness dribbling down the hand with which he was trying to cover his mouth. Still, that voice was trying to speak to him, but he could not hear a word that it was saying.

All over again, he could taste metal in his dry throat. But, soon to wash away the iron taste was a full cup of cold water sliding down without fuss. Before long, the ringing in his ears stopped and the metal taste was gone. He could hear more clearly the words that were being spoken to him.

"Ivan, Ivan!" There was a hand resting on his arm that he did not feel there before. "Are you okay?" He half-opened his good eye to see Maddie sitting next to him on the arm of the couch. She had a concerned look upon her face, and when she saw the dribble of red coming from the side of his mouth she sighed. "You really didn't have to do that for me, you know."

"Do what?" He eyed her white shirt, which had newly-absorbed red splatter covering the chest of it. "Cough blood all over you?" She glanced down at her shirt as well.

"Well, that too," she laughed it off. "I meant, you didn't have to fight Nikolaas for me. I know you're going to deny it, but you really didn't have to do that." She patted his shoulder and Ivan wiped the small amount of blood from his mouth.

"Like I said, he deserved it," Ivan half-shrugged, not completely denying her statement.

"So, you don't deny it?" she asked, sounding genuinely surprised that he had not.

Ivan raised an eyebrow, pretending as if he did not hear her. Maddie smirked his smirk again.

"Well, either way, it was very sweet of you, but I can take care if myself."

Ivan would have considered this for a moment, but before he could, he felt her give him a quick peck on the cheek. He did not see it coming because it was on the swollen side of his face. He did not even feel it until the pain of contact kicked in, and by then, he had no thoughts left in his head. Whether or not she had planned it like that, it worked to her advantage.

Immediately following, as she got up from the arm of the chair and went to try and dab the blood spatter off her shirt, memories of the dream he had had the night before came rushing back to him. Even through the stench of blood still clinging to him, he could smell maple leaves and lilacs, a mixture which Ivan distinctly associated with Maddie. Maddie Kirkland smelled like maple leaves and lilacs.

All of a sudden, the room felt too hot to him.

Along the entire length of the window's bottom, was a stretching pattern of crystallized ice, beautiful, but fading as it extended upwards. The view of the window was obstructed by a giant fir tree, its branches whipping around wildly in the early-afternoon wind. A small amount of wind must have found its way down the chimney flue, because small particles of long-dead ashes were being picked up and shifted in a strange semi-circle around the hearth of the fireplace. There were goosebumps covering his arms, because he had been way too long without his thick winter jacket and scarf. His hands were ice cold, and even the one that was being covered by bandages would have made someone jump from the icy contact if it had connected to the back of their neck.

Still, he felt too warm, and for one rare occasion, he hated that.

The reason the room was too warm for him, despite all signs pointing to the fact that it was indeed fairly cold, was because he had an invisible blush heating up his entire face. Invisible, because Ivan rarely blushed, and when he did, all the blood went to his ears instead of his cheeks. For longer than he could possible care to remember, he had not had feelings for anyone, at least, not since he had come to Canada. All the people he met seemed to be slightly afraid of him, if not completely terrified, and he had no idea why. The only time he could remember ever having a crush on someone was way back, when he was pretty young, on a family vacation to Lithuania, and even then, he had only known the person for a few short days.

_Just like he had only known Maddie for a short period of time._ He shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts, and his body returned to its below-average normal temperature. _Cue denial mode._

Just because he met some girl, and maybe thought she was interesting, and maybe thought she was a little cute, didn't mean anything, did it? Then again, Natalya had always been _very_ perceptive of her older brother's feelings, and from the conversation he had had with her the day before, she sure was convinced that he felt something. She was also convinced it was a mistake for him to be interested in her, as she was sure that he needed nothing else but his sisters' company for the rest of his life. He groaned out of frustration, perhaps a little louder than he intended.

"Are you okay?" His heart jumped at the sudden voice, but he could not even bring himself to look up at her, for fear he may immediately fall deeply into her.

_What a stupid thing to be afraid of,_ he lifted his eyes confidently to meet hers.

"I'm fine, just a bit of a headache, but you should probably know all about people with headaches." He crossed his arms smugly over his stomach, leaning further back into the couch and lifting his feet.

"W-What do you mean by that?" Her voice was shaky, a sound he had not heard in quite some time. He missed that sound, as it brought a little bit of his twisted pleasure rushing back to him.

"I mean, with a voice like that, you have to have caused headaches before, right?" Ivan let a smug smile lay on his lips, happy with his little joke. In all honesty, he really liked her voice. It was calming (except when yelling at him) and fluid. For some reason, he felt the need to mask the insecurity of his feelings with an insult. Apparently, Maddie was not so pleased, evident by the immediate placement of her slender hands on her hips through the fabric of her shirt, and the unimpressed look present on her face.

"I wouldn't account my voice for your headache. It's probably your ego getting too big for your head." There was a hint of biting hurt behind her words, but she hid it well behind her anger. Without hesitating a second, she walked straight up to him and smacked his head just hard enough to make his ears pound. All of a sudden, he could not hear anything that was going on around him and he winced out of pain. It felt like all the blood had either left his head, or congregated there at the same time. Either way, the effect was almost unbearable. Who knew such a small hit could make him feel so much pain?

What he did not realize is that his words had had the exact same effect upon the departing Canadian girl.

For what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few short minutes, Ivan's head continued to brutally assault his ability to function. He could not think, nor could he speak, he could only focus upon the intense concentration of pain in his frontal lobe. It was not until he decided to cradle his head in the darkness of his arms that the pain subsided. Within a few moments, the dull roar that blocked out all noise was replaced by suffocating silence, and his vision finally came into focus, dull focus, but focus nonetheless. It was not until he blinked his eyes around the room in an attempt to sharpen his sight that he realized that he was, in fact, completely alone.

_Way to go, Braginski, you just screwed that up, big time._

Normally, he would not agree with the hallucinatory-like voices that accompanied him when he had intense headaches, but that one had a valid point. What had been him acting in defense of his own insecure feelings had led to the lone person who had made an honest attempt at understanding him leaving, angry and most likely a bit hurt. Sometimes, his defenses liked to work against him instead of for him.

He grumbled, and in a moment of frustration, he let his head fall back onto the arm of the couch without resistance. The immediate resurgence of his pounding migraine told him that it had not been such a good idea to do so, as his head was, at the moment, insufferably over-sensitive to every single bump and knock that came its way. He could once again hear a deafening roar in his ears, leaving him desperate for some sort of escape. Instead of sitting and simply waiting for the pain to subside on its own, Ivan swiftly decided that it would be best to try and solve the problem himself. Without a moment's hesitation, he carefully stumbled his way towards the sink and ran the water ice cold.

A quick splash on the face and a hand full of soaked bandages later, the pain had once again left him. However, he could still hear his heartbeat in his head, so he thought it would be best to take something for the pain. Tylenol, Advil, or any sort of ache and/or pain relief pill would do really. He was not about to be picky, and did not even think twice about rummaging in the doctor's cupboard without consent.

One hand planted firmly on the counter to steady himself, and the other rifling through assortments of bottles and sealed pouches, he began searching for some kind of relief in pill-form. Even though he had only been standing for a short period of time, he still felt very dizzy and disoriented. He assumed that it was due to the fact that he had been laying down for so long that the shock of standing upright surprised his body and nervous system. His hand began to shake the smallest fraction as he continued to look through the myriad of bottles.

Way in the back, he could see the corner of a label which started with an uppercase A, and immediately stretched out to grab it. As he assumed, it was the Advil he had been searching for. Content with his find, he set the bottle down on the counter, and lifted his eyes in search of a glass to fill with water so he would therefore not have to dry-swallow the pills. Instead of a drinking glass, the gloss of a clear bottle caught his eye from back near where he had found the Advil.

Without even a second of thought, he hovered his hands confidently over the lids of jars of pills and enclosed his hand around the neck of the glossy bottle that beckoned for his touch. The sensation was so natural to him, and felt so right, that he did not hesitate in pulling the bottle out from the cupboard and breaking the seal, all in one swift motion. It was like he had done the very same sequence of actions many times before, and it was fairly safe to say that _he had_.

The liquid was room temperature at best, and way too sweet for his liking, but the burning sensation rolling down the back of his throat served to throw all his qualms about the taste of it out the window. Just to feel that familiar warming sensation slipping all the way down to his stomach was enough for him to disregard the fact that it was also causing an immense stinging sensation for his oral wounds. Had he been any less a man, as well as any less intoxicated by the feeling he had been too long without, he might have cried out in pain. As it was, he did not, he merely pulled the rim of the bottle neck away from his lips and reveled in the moment.

Satisfied with the amount of so-called pain that he had killed, he deftly picked up the bottle of Advil between his fingers and delicately placed it back in the exact spot where he had found it, way in the back of the cupboard. He would no longer need the aid of those pills, because he had found something much, _much_ better.

It was just his luck to find a bottle of unopened vodka in his search for painkillers, and he would not relinquish that luck to put _it_ back where he had found it.

Taking another smooth drink of the alcohol, he closed the door to the cupboard with his bandaged hand, not even feeling the pain of the nasty bite-mark. He retrieved the cap from where he had tossed it on the counter and closed his little bottle of liquid painkiller. As if he were being watched by high-security cameras, he slyly slipped the glass in his pocket, the top of it being covered by his t-shirt. He took one glance about the room and decided that he was not the one who promised to watch the doctor's things, so he felt no need to remain there any longer.

A quick flick of the wrist, and he was all alone in the hallway, just as he had been in the room. He patted the partially emptied glass through his pocket, a crooked smile appearing on his face.

No, he was not completely alone.

* * *

_Ohsnap._ That vodka's going to be dangerous, Ivan!

You may find that this chapter starts off a little differently than usual, and I have to say - as much as I love Ivan and Maddie - it was nice to write a scene that didn't involve either of them for once. You didn't think I would just leave our hero and the big guy's sisters out for a while, did you? Alfred is just a source of constant entertainment for me, and it's so fun to write him.

Love you all. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!


	17. Seventeen: Why Do You Taste Like

**Author's Note:** Good thing about summer - lots of time to write. Bad thing about summer - too hot to sit at a computer for a long period of time so I can actually write something. Somehow, in the 35+C heat of my house, I managed. Please excuse me while I go jump in the river nao, k?

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Maddie could not remember another point in her life when she had been feeling so many mixed emotions at the same time.

First and foremost, she was feeling rather annoyed, for obvious reasons. She had no idea why Ivan had felt the need to cut her down so ruthlessly. It was probably his own stupidity that was causing his headache, not her voice. Sure, she had gone a smidgen overboard in ranting at him, but him starting a fight for no reason was ridiculous.

_Oh, yeah. It did have a reason._

Every time she came back to that little piece of information, she was plagued by emotion number two: Guilt. She had had no direct role in the actions taken by her friend, but just to know that she was the indirect cause behind it all made her feel the need to hold an ice pack to Ivan's swollen eye. However, she had more pressing issues to attend to. She never did get the bandages and antiseptic from the doctor, something she had neglected to grab when she left Ivan with a pounding headache. Another weight of guilt was added to her shoulders when she realized that she had broken her promise to Dr. Wang, and left his room _virtually_ unattended. She still needed to help her pristine white-coated companion, and for that she needed the doctor's help.

Cue third emotion: Stress. She was stressed because, for a vacation, she felt as though she had way too much responsibility. She had a responsibility to help nurse Polar Bear back to health. She had a responsibility to let herself heal and not over-exert herself. She had a responsibility to make sure Alfred did not get too caught up in flirting with girls.. Not that she was going to back out on anything she had committed herself to doing, she just wished that she had more time to think things through before having to follow through with them.

Thinking through things also would have allowed her time enough to sort out the fourth, and most confusing emotion: Happiness? Somewhere in between all the blood and frustration, a small pocket of happy feelings had settled itself in the back of Maddie's brain, and would not dissolve. She really did have no idea where it came from, or why it decided to arise at the exact same time as all the other emotions swimming around in her head did, but she paid it little attention anyway. It was left neglected if only for the reason that she had other more demanding emotions to attend to. Happiness could wait, but an injured canine could not, and that was exactly why she was, at that moment, actively searching out the other side of Ivan's mess. Find Nikolaas, and she would find the doctor.

Where to start her search, she did not know, so she just found herself aimlessly wandering the communal areas of the building. She ended up in the kitchen, but then realized that it would be rather unfitting to clean a bleeding person in a place where people were trying to eat. So, she next tried the lounge, and found the sofas and love seats to be occupied by quietly chattering patrons of the resort, only not the two she was searching for. With a slight limp invading her step, she made her way down the narrow hallway that led to the storage room where Polar Bear was being kept. She wondered if her father had ever gotten the chance to bring the animal some water.

She half-walked, half-limped down the hallway, buried in thought. As she neared the end, she reached into her pocket to retrieve the key to unlock the door, almost completely forgetting about what she had been originally searching for. As soon as she inserted the key in the lock, the stifled silence behind the door was replaced by rapid barking. Pulling open the padlock quickly and replacing the key in her pocket, she flicked on the light and made a shushing motion with her finger. Immediately, the animal stopped its racket and nuzzled up beside her leg.

Somehow, it had found the strength to pull itself to its feet, perhaps because it felt as though it could have been in danger with someone entering the small room. Maddie sighed with mild relief when she saw a half-filled bucket of water present beside the mess of blankets it had been laying on. When she had first come in contact with her father, she had forgotten to give him the key so he could get in, but apparently he had found someone who could let him in. The dog still had markedly wet fur surrounding its muzzle from drinking. It definitely had been parched.

The door was unintentionally left open to any passers who may wander by, because she felt confident enough in the animal's tameness to trust it to stay put. Maddie let herself settle down to her knees while caressing the creature's ear in her hand. As soon as she was down on its level, the canine allowed itself to flop back on the cushioning of the blankets. She took the opportunity to further inspect the animal's wound, distracting it by rubbing its belly at the same time. The wound had dried quite a bit, but she would still need to clean it with something so it would not get too badly infected.

As if exactly on cue, Maddie heard two familiar voices carrying over through both doorways from the next room. She immediately recognized the first voice as that of Nikolaas, words falling huskily through the air. As far as she could tell, he was not afflicted by the same concentration of oral wounds that would mar his speech, but that did not necessarily mean that he was any less injured than Ivan. Perhaps he was injured more severely in other places. Perhaps each of them had their own preferences on where to hit an opponent.

Second came the much more familiar voice that she had come to recognize as particularly calming. From the sound of it, the doctor was fussing over one cut or another, asking the man if he could recount how he had acquired each of them. Maddie gave the animal one last firm pat on the head and stood up as steadily as she could. For some reason or another, she did not want to be heard approaching, so she stepped as softly as she possibly could with her injury. She peered cautiously around the corner and luckily found the doctor's back to be turned to her. However, unblinking amber eyes were staring directly at her, without so much as a flicker elsewhere.

From what she could see on his face, he was just as badly hurt as Ivan, though there was a significantly smaller amount of blood, and a significantly larger amount of bruises. The area of skin surrounding an entire eyebrow was darkened with blood pooling just underneath the surface, and his face was just as swollen as Ivan's, if not more. Maddie cringed at the sight, and he continued to stare directly at her. Dr. Wang finished wrapping up the man's wrist, and his face changed from unmoving at last. Nikolaas' nose crinkled slightly, his cover of high pain tolerance obviously penetrated. Without even turning around, the doctor acknowledged her presence.

"Hello, Madeline," he said, clipping the end of a roll of bandage. Maddie jumped slightly at the sudden unexpected address at her, but something told her that she should have known that he would sense her watching him. He just had that kind of natural instinct. "What brings you down here, weren't you watching my room?" He raised an eyebrow in curiosity, and she bit her lip sheepishly.

"Well, I was," she admitted, pulling at the end of her shirt nervously, "but as far as I know, Ivan is still there." She gave a half-hearted shrug, and the Chinese man watched her for a moment.

"That's fine," he smiled, erasing every bit of uneasiness from her consciousness. "My purpose behind having you stay there was not entirely concerned with my personal belongings, anyway."

She was used to the cryptic messages from the doctor by that point, so she did not even think to consider what he had just said. Instead, she just laughed softly to break the silence.

"Umm, if you're done h-here," she started rather uncomfortably, trying to avoid Nikolaas' constant gaze, "would you mind helping me with my friend?" She pointed behind herself out the doorway. "He's just in that room right there. I don't know if you heard the barking earlier or not." She was expecting a moment of consideration from the doctor, then a kind reply of acceptance. However, the first response she got was sufficient enough to surprise her.

With as clear a voice as she had ever heard from him, Nikolaas replied with a simple, "I'll help." Both other occupants of the room froze completely for a split-second, but Dr. Wang moved from it as quickly as he had become still. Maddie merely had a severely confused expression frozen on her features for the time being.

"That's great, I'll need a third pair of hands." He gathered up the last of his things, something he had done many times in the last few days, and stood up straight. The other, much taller man immediately followed suit. All the pretenses she had about the Dutch man and his inherent dislike of animals and lack of sympathy for others flew out the window. Maddie tried to make coherent sentences, but found she could only spit out fragments of her current thoughts.

"But, I don't think.." She placed her hands on her chest, covering up the blood stains unintentionally. "I mean he doesn't really.." Weakly, she signaled out the door to the storage room. "But you said earlier.." She pointed at Nikolaas meekly. "j-jerk?" she stuttered, barely above a whisper. Her hands fell to her sides in confusion. Both men passed by her into the narrow hallway, and she just stood perfectly still, too astonished to even think clearly.

What had just happened? _Apparently someone just had a total personality switch, that's what just happened._ Furrowing her brows in confusion, Maddie turned to follow the two of them back into the small storage room. If anything was going to assure her preconceptions about Nikolaas, it would be to see Polar Bear acting apprehensive towards him, as he had earlier. The three of them crowded into the room, and not surprisingly, when the canine first got a glimpse of the Dutch man, a small snarl formed on his lips. An almost inaudible growl was released from his throat, but it died midway through when the doctor extended a hand to stroke his head. Maddie decided that there had to be something about that doctor that calmed down any situation, because there was no way that things had changed that fast for Nikolaas. _Just. no. way._

The creature gave a stifled yelp of pain as he massaged at the wound with a cloth dampened by a small amount of antiseptic. Maddie cringed as his legs kicked in pain, and the doctor signaled for her to approach it in an attempt to calm him. She settled next to him and allowed his head to fall on her lap, stroking his head and distracting him from the inevitable pain. It served to help calm his nervousness quite a bit, and Dr. Wang had a much easier time cleaning the wound with less struggling from the animal. From her position on the blanket, Maddie could see a small amount of bubbling coming from the cut, present because it was being cleaned by the stinging liquid. A whimper was emitted from Polar Bear's throat, but all she could do to soothe him was to continue petting him until the worst of it was over.

The doctor gave one last swipe with the dampened cloth and sat back to let one last moment of cleansing happen. While he waited, he started up a conversation in the room which was only not silent because of the sounds of pain the animal was making.

"So, Madeline, how is your brother doing with his fingers? Has any feeling come back to them yet?" She felt a small lick spread across her hand, and kept on absently petting the animal while she spoke.

"Ah, I haven't really seen Alfred today," she admitted, only to get skeptical stares from the two men. She had almost completely forgotten that the other was present. "I mean, awake, that is," she added. Immediately, an expression of understanding appeared on the doctor's face.

"I see. So nothing seems to be too out of the ordinary with him?" He leaned down to wipe away the last remaining amount of dirt and blood from the animal's wound before wrapping it. Nikolaas held a small collection of metal shards in his hand. She hadn't even seen the doctor working to remove the tiny fractions of bullet. Evidently, the shot had not merely grazed the canine's leg.

"Well, considering Alfred is never too ordinary anyway, I guess that would be a yes," she chuckled. He nodded, pulling out a length of bandage as he did so.

"I've used so much of this since I have been here that I am almost out." He looked at both of them sarcastically. "And to think I almost did not bring my first aid kit," he shook his head with a chuckle escaping his mouth. Maddie could scarcely even imagine what a disaster the last few days would have been without Dr. Wang and his expertise. There probably would be blood and bruises and paled skin everywhere.

In her lap, Polar Bear seemed to have fallen asleep right in the middle of having his wound wrapped. A small amount of saliva was escaping from his open mouth and staining her jeans, but despite the issue, she just laughed at the creature and continued to softly pat his head. For another minute or two, the only sound in the room was that of the canine's panting. Since entering, Nikolaas had not said a word, and Maddie still could not figure out why he had volunteered to help.

The doctor pulled out a few familiar clips from among the shrinking rolls of bandage and tape and bottles of antiseptic and secured the end of it flush against the dog's fur. He gently pulled at the edges of it, just to make sure that it was indeed secure enough to hold, but not so tight that it would be uncomfortable. He gave off a noise of approval and once again began to clean everything into his little box.

"That took less time than I expected it to take." Maddie was mildly surprised at his effectiveness, even though she had experienced it for herself a few times before. Polar Bear was still snoozing in her lap, little pink tongue giving off heated pants. She finally noticed that the breathing was no longer shallow, nor was it uneven or rapid. Maybe it had been the fact that he had been immensely thirsty and got water at last, but when she had returned, he had been in fairly high spirits. The memory comforted her into knowing that he was not so badly injured that he could not be helped. She felt like turning to the man who had been so silent and uttering a more polite version of the commonplace 'I told you so,' but she felt that it would be uncalled for. He had been nothing but helpful through the entire process of cleansing and bandaging the wound.

"Yes, the cut was deep, but fairly easy to clean," he nodded, standing up to his full height silently so to not awaken the animal. "It should probably keep weight off of that leg for a while, but that is an action that is fairly hard to control in some creatures." He tipped his head at Maddie accusingly, but not in seriousness. The action was playful and she smiled in response.

"Yes, yes, I know. I will try to keep him off it," she promised, and he waited expectantly for the completion of her sentence. "And I will try to take it easy as well?" she tried.

"A compliant patient at last. That is what I like to hear. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an empty room to get back to." He turned to leave.

Maddie was about to remind him that she had left Ivan there, but figured that he had most likely left, and that the doctor had more than likely figured that out long before she had. So, she just let him leave with a sincere, "Thank you!"

She returned to running her hand through Polar Bear's soft white fur as he slept with his head settled in her lap. She thought about trying to dry the drool spot marking her pant leg, but soon found that the attempt would be futile; he would just continue to drip saliva on her, unless she woke him up. She did not want to wake him up, however, because she had to admit that he looked pretty darn adorable with his mouth ajar. It kind of reminded her of the look her brother had when he slept. The comparison between Alfred and the canine made her giggle a little.

She had completely forgotten that she was in the presence of another person, because he was staying so quiet that she had not even noticed him sitting across from her. It was only when he shifted from a kneeling position to a sitting position that she at last recognized his presence. She felt oblivious all over again.

"Oh, I-I didn't realize you were still here," she laughed uncomfortably, trying to make some kind of conversation to break the awkward silence. After having said that, though, she realized just how oblivious it made her sound, a trait that she really wanted to get over. Unfortunately, it seemed like she had been becoming more and more oblivious to everything lately. He responded with nothing but silence, so she tried a different tactic.

"So, why the sudden change of heart?" she asked. His eyes lifted to meet hers, and she almost faltered at the piercing gaze, but somehow found the will to continue. "From what happened earlier today, I got the feeling you hated anything in pain." She was trying as hard as she could to be confident and sharp with her words in lieu of her usual stuttering and over-politeness. "But, I g-guess you just joined that group, eh? You two beat each other up pretty well." He was still completely silent, watching her every word fall from her lips, and she swallowed dryly. "How does it feel to be in pain and in need of help?"

He could have answered all her questions, but she found that he only chose to answer the last one.

"It doesn't feel so great."

Somehow, that had been exactly what she was expecting him to say, so she merely watched in expectation, waiting for a more thorough explanation from him. When he gave none, she attempted to prompt him instead.

"So, the dog is fine," she started, firmly patting the back of snowy white fur and remembering the important pieces of information that Ivan had told her concerning the fight. "Isn't there something you need to say to me?" Silence invaded the room for a moment. "Something like, 'You were right and I was a big, wrong jerk'?" She felt like this was a line she could use on a certain Russian sometime later. "W-well?"

"Sure," he said, unimpressed look on his face.

_A man of many words,_ Maddie rolled her eyes. "Okay, so if you have nothing else to say to me, then why are you here?" Far off down the hallway, the faint sound of heavy footsteps could be heard, but she was too preoccupied with trying to get an apology out of the man to notice it. Nikolaas, however, took immediate notice of the sound, and registered it in the back of his mind. His face was free of any expression except one of mild annoyance as he spoke.

"I am making an attempt to be civil and trying to help you like you originally asked me to," he supplied, placing his hands firmly on his knees. "But, if you no longer need my assistance, I will gladly be on my way." He slowly rose to his feet as the footsteps grew closer. In his sleep, Polar Bear growled slightly, lifting the corner of his mouth to reveal a tooth or two, and nipped at the feet of cats in his dream. "Just keep in mind that fairy tales don't always have your _conventional_ knight in shining armour," he half-whispered, leaning in closer to her so that she may hear his barely audible words. "Sometimes he's the dragon in disguise." He smiled devilishly.

Maddie honestly did not know whether to feel anxious or relieved that it was all he appeared to have to say. Unfortunately, there was no discernible trace of any sort of emotion in the man's hushed advice - if you could call it that - to help her decide one way or the other. Though, she started to border on nervous when he did not distance himself after several seconds, she stopped holding her breath when he finally relented and backed away.

The addition of another presence made Nikolaas immediately straighten his back and turn to the doorway. The light that had been filtering out of the room and onto the wall on the opposite side of the hallway was being blocked out by the passing of the two men. As the Dutch man left, his glare did not leave the vicinity of Ivan's face, or the bruises and the cuts in all their glory. Maddie avoided all eye contact with anything and everything until Nikolaas' echoing whistle died off. Maddie had recognized the tune immediately, and it stuck in her head.

_I don't care if I lose my mind, I'm already cursed._

She really did feel like she was losing her mind, because she found that she was not even angry at Ivan anymore. She was just too exhausted from the day to care. Getting up that early in the morning and running around trying to help the dog currently fast asleep in her lap had physically exhausted her. All of her high-strung thoughts and feelings had left her in much the same state emotionally. Still, she did not look the Russian in the eye, and she was by no stretch of the imagination going to be the first to speak.

"So, I finally get to see your little friend's face." He took a step further into the stuffy, and as it felt to her, increasingly smaller room. "All I saw of him before was his tongue," he chuckled and leaned against the door frame. Maddie remained tight-lipped because she could sense that something was off about Ivan, but she could not quite place it in her mind. "He looks _delightfully_ comfortable in your lap," Ivan gestured to the sleeping form covering the majority of her legs. They had fallen asleep with a tingling sensation some time ago, but she had not cared enough to do anything about it.

Ivan let out a string of giggles that seemed completely out of place from him, and Maddie felt a shiver shoot up the length of her spine. He lowered himself rather heavily to his knees and took a seat where Nikolaas had been not too long before. The slight _thud_ that was produced when his calves hit the floor did not so much as disturb the sleeping animal nestled on top of Maddie's legs. She was thankful that Polar Bear was there, because she felt that if he had not been, she would have felt a whole lot less comfortable than she was at that moment.

"May I pet him?" Ivan stuck out a hand towards the canine and looked over at Maddie for her approval before making contact. She avoided looking directly at him, but, not wanting to offend him by saying no, she just nodded her head. He made a noise of satisfaction, then ruffled his bandaged hand deep into the fur of the animal's neck. Polar Bear stirred slightly from his slumber, and Maddie just sat there, amazed, wondering how in the world the firm contact was not causing waves of searing pain to be emitted from his injury. Any other person would have recoiled in pain once the shock of contact nerve impulse reached their brain. For some reason, he did not.

Something that surprised her even more, though, was that even with how strangely Ivan seemed to be acting, the animal did not even seem to mind. He was still half-asleep, and not totally aware of who was petting him, but even after taking a sideways glance at Ivan, he merely flopped his head to the ground beside Maddie's lap and let it continue. She watched as Ivan began to run his wounded hand along the tuft of soft fur behind the dog's ears, not even minding the pain it must have been causing. She could not take it any longer; She had to ask.

"D-doesn't that hurt, I-Ivan?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he still acknowledged her question. He slowed his petting of Polar Bear for a moment to look her in the eyes.

Needing clarification, he said, "I'm sorry, does what hurt?" He looked completely honest in his question, but still something did not feel right to her.

"Y-your hand," she pointed, a bit flustered, at the grey-ish white bandages covering his pale expanse of skin, "that hand. You injured hand. D-doesn't it hurt?" He glanced down, completely stopping the petting movement to take a better look at that which she was pointing.

"Oh, that," he chuckled, lifting his hand out of the mess of white fur to examine it. "No, no, it doesn't. At least, not anymore, it doesn't." He settled it back in his lap along with his other, which gained a noise of disapproval from Polar Bear. Evidently, he had been enjoying the attention being given to him.

"W-why is that? I mean it just h-happened today," she said, finally bringing her legs out from underneath her. She stretched them out to allow blood flow to regulate once again. "You would think it would still hurt, wouldn't it?" She rested the toes of her boots on the back of the door, which slipped from her reach as she did so. After blood flow was back to normal, they would stop tingling, right?

"Normally, you would, but I forgot to mention the fact that I had something to kill the pain," he explained as if it had been the most simple answer in the world, which, in some ways, it was.

"Oh," she said, feeling like she should have guessed as much. "Right." She fidgeted with the end of her shirt while Ivan leaned back to allow the dog to get up and have a drink of water. Maddie watched from the corner of her eye as he pulled something wrapped in plastic from his pocket. He waited for Polar Bear to be finished drinking, then removed the plastic wrap and offered the contents to him. The animal sniffed at it for a moment in consideration before taking the slice of meat in his jaws and turning away from them to eat it.

"I figured it would be starving." That was right, Maddie had not given him anything since that morning when she had found him injured out in the snow.

"Thank you," she nodded, almost entirely forgetting her earlier anger towards her Russian friend. He did not seem like such an egotistical jerk then as he did before, but that information was only passing through the back of Maddie's mind, and was not in her immediate thoughts and considerations.

"It is my pleasure," he almost purred, leaving her more than sufficiently confused. With intensely burning violet eyes, he leaned in closer to her, and she could have sworn that she heard a swish of liquid. _Polar Bear drinking his water again most likely._ All of a sudden she could smell something that she had not before, but it was a scent that she could not quite place. Something about it reminded her of her and Alfred's last birthday party, when their father had allowed them to invite a whole mess of their friends over. It had been her brother's brain child of course. _Rowdy teenage friends over in the summertime. The overwhelming smell of sweat and liquor and summer air._ It hadn't felt right at the time, but it hadn't felt wrong either._  
_

Maddie stopped all thought process for an undefined period of time, keeping her head perfectly still under the warm pressure on her lips._  
_

The bitterness of alcohol and the iron of blood invaded her sense of taste, and left her frozen in all her movements. Her body was rigid, and her eyes remained wide open. At such a close range, the only thing she could make out was the shadow of bruises covering Ivan's closed eyes. Her hands were being involuntarily pressed against the front of his broad shoulders, and she became increasingly aware of cold fingers cradling the back of her head. The door was nudged a little bit further closed by her foot, creaking painfully slowly, the only thing breaking her silence. Way in the back of her mind, subconscious thoughts were telling her,_ It may not feel right, but it feels good._

An excess of blood appeared in both their faces, one from bruising, the other from a suffocatingly warm blush.

_

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_Bold!Ivan is just a wee bit buzzed, if you could not tell.. at least I tried to make it seem that way. Did I totally fail at that or what? OTL

It's so wrong but so right! I just can't explain the dynamic between these two.. and if I tried I would fail as hard as I do at making toast. (NO I DID NOT JUST BURN IT.) I swear I have a little bit of Iggy in me.. Speaking of our favourite British gentleman, I think next chapter is high time for a little more Father!England, don't you agree? I miss that guy. =]


	18. Eighteen: PassiveAggressive Confession

**Author's Note:** I completely forgot to thank you guys to the moon and back for getting this story to 100 reviews! I am forever grateful for it, you know. As always, please enjoy!

* * *

Alfred tossed the final shovelful of snow off the path and breathed deeply in relief. Somehow - between Natalya's snarky comments and Vash's accusing glare - they had accomplished the task given to them. Maybe it was Alfred's determination that pushed them to complete it, or maybe it was Katyusha's seemingly endless fountain of optimistic thoughts, but either way they were done. All vital exits and major windows were cleared of offending piles of snow, at the price of his complete exhaustion.

Usually, he bode pretty well with tasks requiring gratuitous amount of energy, and Maddie never failed to comment on his never ending supply of willpower when it came to working, but for some undefinable reason, he was completely and totally exhausted. For more than two and a half hours they had been at it, and Alfred really felt that he needed to down an entire milk jug's worth of water. That would be enough to halt his exhaustion, and, if he was lucky, he would be able to find a nice cold can of soda waiting for him upstairs. That is, if no one drank it while he was gone, but he felt that it was a fairly safe assumption considering all his father seemed to drink was tea, and that Maddie was too nice to touch any of his favourite soda anyway.

He let himself fall backwards onto a cushioning of snow and just laid there for a moment of rest. The rise and fall of his chest slowed gradually, until the voices around him seemed to die down. Roderich had left nearly half-an-hour before, muttering something about gloves and blisters, when they had just begun to clear the front entrance. He had not come back and Vash seemed pretty annoyed by the fact. No matter how much the Swiss man complained about the Austrian's laziness, they all knew they had done their part. They had all worked their hardest for the sake of the resort and its patrons and Alfred felt satisfaction in knowing it was a job well done. Despite his fatigued body, he could not imagine a better way to spend the first day after a snow storm of that magnitude. After all, they _had_ been trapped inside for the few days of blizzard, and to be outside in the crisp air was enough to make it all worthwhile.

Alfred, still lying on the soft snow, could clearly hear Vash speaking about the state of the roads to a seemingly concerned Katyusha.

"According to the latest news," he stated, seeming more like a newscaster than a ski resort worker, "the nearest town is working as hard as they possibly can to enable access to the resort as quickly and efficiently as possible." Getting the generator up and running had allowed for the resort's office phone line to connect to the local police station of the town below. Their only line of communication to the outside world was already proving helpful, and nothing but good news seemed to be on the way. However positive the outlook seemed to be though, there always seemed to be doubt in everyone's minds.

"Do they know how soon the roads will be safe, though?" There was a slight falter in the woman's voice that told Alfred that she was bordering on tears. For whatever reason, he did not really understand, since everything seemed to be looking upwards in the safety department, but he could not resist the urge to bring a smile back to her face. After all, he felt it was his duty to do so, and Katyusha had been so cheerful not too long before. Where had all her optimistic encouragement gone?

"There is no telling how long it will take," he sighed. Alfred rose to his feet while Vash was speaking. "But they assured us that it will not be any more than a few days." He strode over to where they were standing and firmly patted the woman on the shoulder.

"Aww, it'll be alright! Look, it's not so bad. On the bright side, you'll only be stuck with me for the next few days!" He shot her a big grin and the shimmer of tears seemed to vanish from her eyes. "And after that, you won't have to deal with me anymore." Katyusha giggled softly, all the traces of nervousness and despair evaporating from her voice. Vash just rolled his eyes and turned to leave, heading in the same direction that Roderich had gone not too long before.

"Thank you Mr. Vash!" She waved at him as he parted, then turned to Alfred. "And thank you for cheering me up, Mr. Alfred, I don't know what came over me." She wiped at her eye and Alfred sensed Natalya was intently watching him behind his turned back.

"Not a problem," he laughed nervously in an attempt to shake off the uncomfortable aura hanging in the air. "It's what I'm here for." He tried another prize-winning smile to re-establish the friendliness of the situation. Katyusha laughed again.

"Though I hope this will not be the last time we see you, Mr. Alfr-"

"Call me Al," he interrupted.

"Well, Al," she started rather awkwardly, "we like you and Maddie very much, so it would be a shame to never see you again after this ordeal." At that point, she enveloped him in a tight hug, throughout which he could scarcely find the space to breathe. When she finally let go, he had to take in a big gasp of air, and she laughed again at his antics, even though it was not done purposely on his part.

He still sensed a certain girl attempting to glare daggers at the back of his head, so he did not mention the fact that the sheer size of her sister's chest had nearly suffocated him. It would have been in bad taste, but that was not what he was concerned about. He was more concerned with the status of his own well-being following a comment like that. If anyone asked, he would say he stayed silent because he had finally picked up the traits of being a gentleman from his father, when in reality, he was merely trying to not get stabbed. The older girl grabbed Natalya by the shoulder and cheerfully dragged her inside.

He really hoped his soda was still upstairs, because he felt as though he desperately needed the energy boost.

* * *

Ivan smiled because of what he had accomplished.

She was, unfortunately, keeping completely still through the small moment of boldness on his part, but he attributed it to shock and surprise rather than unwillingness. She was not exactly pushing him away, so he took that as a sign of her not opposing it. He leaned into her for one last second of savouring the moment, then released his hands from the back of her head. The only thing that seemed to be changing about her was the deepening of her blush. However long his brain had unknowingly wanted to do that, he found himself happy that his body had finally complied.

Her hands were still loosely placed against his shoulders, and he smirked as he caught them with his own. They were infinitely warmer than his own and the shock of the chill of his own must have gotten to her because she finally moved. Maddie squirmed slightly in his grip, but at least he was reassured that his contact had not had the same effect of a medusa's gaze; She was not frozen as a statue. Going even deeper red, she started to sputter incoherently and Ivan let out a high-pitched giggle at the sight of her impossibly dark shade of blush.

He was forever thankful that he had the nerve to do something like that, because the reaction it garnered from the Canadian girl was beyond worth it. However much fun he had had in startling or bothering her, he found this effect to be much more rewarding. If only he could have done that a couple days earlier, then maybe the duration of the blizzard would not have been as uneventful. Not implying that it was boring, because a piece of glass to the bottom of a foot and a fist fight would have to be considered anything but, though the power to make her blush and stutter like that would have made things _a lot_ more interesting for him. Plus, she got a little something out of it as well.

Her hands started to go cold grasped in his, so he let them go as she continued to try to form a proper sentence, and instead placed one of them under her chin. Her hands dropped to her sides and she once again resumed her role as a statue. The sheer warmth emanating from her face was enough to unfreeze his hand, and at the same time he was subsequently forcing her to look him in the eye. However, being the girl that she was, he should have guessed that Maddie would have closed her eyes out of embarrassment. Unsatisfied with her reaction, he lifted an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Just because you can't see me doesn't mean I'm not here." He practically sung the words to her, almost in a mocking way, but not quite arrogant enough to be taken so. She did not acknowledge his statement, and he still could not see even a sliver of her warm violet eyes. She stopped her sputtering in favour of stony silence, so he figured he would make another attempt. He wanted her to look him in the eye, so with a smirk, he tried to add, "you can't ignore me and the fact that we just kmffft," but his words were muffled by her warm hand obstructing the opening of his mouth.

With surprising force, she leaned towards him and knocked him backwards into the door, which clicked behind him from the sudden weight. His head slammed against the hard surface behind him, but he barely felt it because all he could will himself to concentrate on was her positioning. In a split-second, she had placed her free hand on his chest and her knee between his legs. Her hand was still covering his mouth, and though he was taken aback by her aggressiveness, he found it to be surprisingly expected from her. There was a flash of anxiety in her eyes as she warned him, "Don't say it."

Something in her state of franticness compelled him to combat it with silliness. He watched her, considering her carefully chosen words, then - much like a child would have done in the same position - he let a vast amount of his saliva cover her hand with his tongue. Just as he was expecting, she pulled it away instantly and he let deep rolling laughs escape his newly uncovered mouth. She shook her hand in the air then looked at him like he was crazy, but he had to laugh, because it had been simply way too easy to distract her from her intent of silencing him. He did not even feel the pain of her rough treatment of his bruising and head thanks to the half-empty bottle nestled in his pocket.

Scowling in slight disgust, she wiped the saliva onto her jeans to try and rid herself of it. He watched her carefully, small laughs still escaping him, as she settled back into a sitting position after having successfully dried her hand. Ivan let his laughter die out, but when he saw the expectant look on her face, obviously waiting for an explanation, he had to control himself from laughing all over again. "You're too easy to freak out," he admitted, body still pushed up against the backside of the door. She wrung her hands together nervously, flushed appearance never leaving her face.

"I wasn't kidding when I said don't mention it," she whispered in a hushed, urgent tone. She pushed herself back up to a kneeling position again, evidently trying to assert some control over the situation. Ivan suddenly became aware of the knee positioned between his legs and therefore sat more upright to avoid an _accidental collision_. Maddie looked like she was about to burst a blood vessel from stress, not only because she was indeed stressed, but also because of the then constant shade of red marking her face. He could not really understand or comprehend her stress, since he was feeling pretty relaxed at that moment, even despite the threat of having _that_ area unintentionally assaulted.

"It's not like anyone _saw_ us," he reasoned, shifting himself even further into a sitting position. Even though his words carried truth in them, she still looked largely unconvinced. So, smirking again, he decided to try a different tactic. "We could do it again if that would settle your mind?"

Immediately, she turned a deep, deep shade of ruby red, but nevertheless managed to splutter out, "W-we.. what, a-are you crazy!" Her voice turned into a harsh whisper, even more livid than it had been before. She looked as though she were readying her hands for quick motion in the case that he was to roll out another batch of words that made her feel uncomfortable. "Do you know what my brother would do to you if he had seen that?" Her eyes were wide and frantic, darting around the room and to the door handle just to see if anyone was slowly and silently turning it without her knowledge.

Ivan chuckled. Yes, her brother would probably want to hurt him if he ever caught wind of it, "but, you did nothing to stop me from kmmmfff-" Again his mouth was covered by her warm hand. Surrendering to the cover up, he giggled from behind the wall of flesh and bone because he knew he could hold this against her for quite a while. Though, he could not say that it was the exact response the back of his mind was telling him he had wanted from her. Some small part of him had hoped she would reciprocate the action, but he would work with it either way.

"I-I said don't s-say it!" Maddie was practically hissing by that point, one elbow pressed up against his chest and the other hand curled into a fist against it. Of course, the audible stutter in her voice, as well as the wide-eyed doe look on her face, was enough to render the tone of anger useless. Ivan lifted his eyebrows to warn her that he would not hesitate to lick her again, and she pulled her hand back before he could cover it in spit all over again. However, she kept her fist flush against his chest in her own form of warning.

Deciding to re-assert the control which she was attempting to wrestle from him, he enclosed his hand around her fist and pulled it to rest beside his body. "Fine, but that still doesn't mean it didn't happen," he sung, her face went hot again, and she averted her eyes because of the new-found proximity between their faces. He could almost feel the heat being given off from her skin. To his advantage, when he had pulled her hand down, it had caused her to be yanked forward to relieve the distance between them.

_Oh, it is too easy,_ he mused to himself, bringing his free hand up to grasp her chin once more. He pulled it gently to face him, and as soon as he did so, her eyes shot open and focused directly upon him. He finally had full view of her violet eyes, which were much like his, but merely a different shade of temperature; hers were warm and inviting and his were a cold, almost indigo colour most of the time. They were both frozen still for a moment before she spoke, lump visibly sliding down her throat right before she did.

"W-why do you smell like alcohol?" She blinked consciously, and he laughed - purposely - to allow her to smell the faint trace of vodka on his breath. To simply show her, he would have pulled the bottle from his pocket, but both of his hands were currently occupied. One was restraining her hand and the other was holding her chin up to him. He saw another gulp slip down her throat as he opened his mouth to speak with a slightly innocent inflection in his voice.

"Because I have been drinking," he said straightforwardly, shrugging his shoulders underneath her weight. "Why else would my breath smell of vodka?" A snaking smile found its way onto his face as he awaited her response to his confession.

"W-what?" The deer-in-headlights look never seemed to leave her features. To this too, he found a clearly logical explanation.

"Hey, I'm almost nineteen," he shrugged again, obviously not minding the illegality of his own habits.

"You don't even care? I mean, I've drank before, but stuck here with all these people?" She was becoming bolder in her words, possibly returning to her state of mind that she had been in before he had so abruptly ruined it for her. "By doing that, you're just asking for trouble." Nudging further backwards, her eyes widened in realization, and he could have sworn that he had seen a flash of worry behind the cover of violet. "Y-you didn't take the painkillers with the alcohol, d-did you?" Yes, he had indeed spotted worry in her eyes, and it had also become evident in the return her watery voice.

"How sweet of you to worry about me," he said, allowing the words to drip off his tongue before tugging her face moderately closer, back towards him. "I always knew you cared." Ivan laughed deep enough in his being for him to be sure that she would feel the vibrations through her body as they extended outwards.

"S-stop laughing at me." Maddie pulled her free hand up and nudged his stomach with it, halting his amusement mid-way through. He was about to comment that he was not laughing at her in particular, but all of a sudden, a peculiar thought entered his head.

Parroting one of her questions to him from earlier in the day, he asked, "Ah, so you don't deny it?" He let go of his grip on her trapped hand, which allowed her to pull herself backwards to a more comfortable distance for her. The color that had been drained from her face almost instantaneously returned. He merely smiled and began to close the distance between them once more. If he couldn't get her to admit it with words, then actions would certainly do well enough to settle his mind. She most likely anticipated his actions, and closed her eyes out of sheer embarrassment. He brought his hand up to the soft skin of her cheek, which he was surprised did not burn him with the heat of it, and pulled himself closer to taste her again.

A firm knock at the door stopped him in his movements, however, and Maddie's eyes shot open immediately. Apparently awakened by the noise, the dog off in the corner started to bark at a rapid pace, completely evaporating any sense of calmness. He had almost completely forgotten the presence of Maddie's little friend, so much so that he was surprised it had not started to cause a ruckus any earlier. Of course, the destruction of the atmosphere had also been accomplished by the interrupting knock. She backed away even further from him.

The look on her face was one of complete mortification and panic, while the only thought running through his head was, _You've got to be kidding me. _ He had been so close to another taste, and he hung his head in over-expressed disappointment. Ivan heard the lightly accented voice carry through the door and over the noise of Polar Bear's incessant barking.

"Maddie, are you in there?" It was the voice of the girl's father, and Maddie's face slowly returned to its standard colour as she answered.

"Uh, y-yeah dad I'm here with Polar Bear. I-Ivan came to feed him with me." She shot a look at him that to him read as "go along with it or I will hurt you." Ivan could hear the door handle turning clumsily behind him, even though he could not see it, and nodded curtly. The door opened and bumped into Ivan's back, causing a pulse of pain to shoot up his spine.

"Ivan?" He said with careful curiosity. The head peeked around the door and he could feel the emerald green eyes studying him intently. "Sorry, lad. I didn't realize you were so close to the door." Ivan had not seen the man since he had broken up his fight earlier that day, and he never did have the chance to properly explain the circumstances of it all to him. The man slipped himself through the narrow opening of the door and shut it behind him.

Ivan grit his teeth through the lingering pain. "It's alright, Mr. Kirkland." Apparently he would be needing to take another mouthful of his painkilling drink soon, but he could not do that with the girl's father in plain sight - all three of them squished into the tiny room, along with the animal. He would have to wait out the pain for a more private opportunity.

"Just how much did he eat?" The man asked, pulling a small container up from his side in the cramped space of the storage room. Ivan did not want to lie and say it had eaten when it in fact hadn't, because it was probably still hungry, so he stayed silent. Instead, Maddie had to answer for them.

"Oh well h-he only had a little bit of a piece of meat," she said nervously and her father gave her a look of skeptical confusion. She started to play with the end of her shirt again, and Ivan was surprised the man had not yet commented on the blood splatter that he had unintentionally coughed on her.

"I thought you said you came to feed him?" He raised an eyebrow thickly. "You can't right well do that if you don't have any food," he reasoned. Not wanting to get Maddie caught in her lie, Ivan quickly jumped to supply the answer to his query.

"Well," he started, stealing a glance at the worried girl across from him. "We were not exactly sure just what he would want to eat, so we only brought a small portion for him." The older man pulled the lid off of the container in his hand as he listened. "We were going to go back for more of whatever he liked fairly soon, but you beat us to it," he explained. Her father set the container down and Polar Bear approached it without a hint of caution, not even sniffing it to see if it was safe. It seemed to Ivan that he trusted Mr. Kirkland's offering more openly than he had Ivan's.

"I did not bring any gourmet meat, though," he laughed. "With the roads still closed I figured it would be best to save the people food for the people." He turned away from watching the ravenous animal eat and focused upon his daughter instead. "They just so happened to have a small bag of dog kibble in the building. Apparently, one of the owners brings his dogs up here sometimes, but they are not here now, so I was permitted to take the bag for him," he patted the animal down its soft-maned neck as it continued to wolf down the food. Maddie shifted under her father's gaze.

"O-oh.. That's.. We didn't even think of that," she shrugged lightly, attempting to wrench the constant stare from herself. After a second, the man turned it from Maddie and instead focused upon Ivan. He could tell that he was scrutinizing each and every cut and bruise with his eyes, but Ivan tried to steel himself against all criticism. For a long while, the only sound occupying the small space of the storage room was the slobbery crunch of the animal consuming the kibble as fast as he possibly could.

Ivan cleared his throat louder than he needed to, and the haze of the room seemed to disintegrate. Almost instantly, Maddie's father began blinking, and Maddie herself took to silently running her hand down the back of the feasting canine.

The man cocked his head to the side an almost indistinguishable amount. "So, how are your injuries, Ivan?" The overall feeling of the room seemed to become immediately tense.

"They are fine. I was treated by our resident doctor here at the resort," he tried joking, figuring maybe it would lighten the atmosphere a little.

"You did, did you?" Maddie turned away - still minding the dog's back fur - in what seemed to be an attempt to avoid the tensity of the situation. "Well you two seem to be single-handedly keeping that man from enjoying his vacation. Of course, you'll have to throw Alfred in that mix as well," he laughed. "I swear that boy keeps our doctor's kids in college with his hare-brained schemes."

Maddie burst out into laughter at her father's words, and the corner of Ivan's mouth upturned into an amused smirk. He, too, laughed slightly at the joke the man had made, relieved that the aura seemed to be lightening a bit. Sure, he could cause many tense situations like that and enjoy them, but he was not about to offend Maddie's father, especially after what he had witnessed of Ivan earlier that day. He did not want to take any chances in off-putting the man any further than he already had.

"Of course, I still feel the pain," Ivan admitted, tightening the bandage on his hand. "In fact, I think my painkillers are starting to wear off." He stole a glance at Maddie, as her laughter had died out, and expressed through his look his wish for her to remain silent about his choice of painkiller. He turned back to her father as quickly as he had looked away. "I think I should probably go get some more, otherwise I will be complaining the rest of the day."

The girl's father brightened in his demeanour at that point, which Ivan interpreted as his desire to speak with his daughter alone. Ivan almost felt bad for leaving her alone to try and keep silent about all that had happened, but he really did need to get out of the small space and stretch out. He also felt that he should possibly spend a little time with his sisters, seeing how he had not seen them at all since the day before. With as much ease as he could muster in his state, Ivan lifted himself to his feet in the limited space of the storage room and twisted the door handle behind his back.

"I do hope you feel better," the man offered, but Maddie merely pleaded to him with a "don't leave me here alone" look. Ivan however, had no choice but to leave, as his head was pounding mercilessly and he felt like his arms would fall off at any given moment. He left her with nothing more than a split-second of an apologetic look followed by a devilish smirk as he slipped from the room into the empty hallway. No sound came from the room as he calmly walked down the narrow corridor back towards the main area of the building, not even the noise of Polar Bear's eating.

As he made his way back up the stairwell to his room, Ivan wondered how he had been so fortunate as to have almost an entire day without the constant pestering or smothering of his two sisters. At some point, he figured they would have crossed paths and he would have been surrounded all over again, but they did not. It was almost as if it was up to him to decide when he would see the people he wished to see, and by that point, he was actually starting to want to be pestered by his two adoring сестры. So much had happened that they did not know about yet.

_Like the fight._

And surely, Katyusha and Natalya would have a fit when they saw his current state of being. He promptly decided that maybe he would not return to his room so quickly, and that maybe he would take a detour to the kitchen first. Violently protesting his prolonged fast with a deep rumble, his stomach seemed to whole-heartedly agree with the decision as well.

* * *

Okay, so maybe Maddie enjoyed it a liiiiiittle bit more than she let on. Somehow, I feel like I am failing big time in some aspect of this writing, but I can't quite pinpoint where the feeling is originating from (Korea, maybe?) Can anyone help spread light on the situation, or am I just going mental?

Also, I would like to take this time to kindly direct you lovely people to reading my newest addition to this site - called Scorch - if you haven't already. I would love it if you guys would read it and tell me what you think, since I was strange enough to decide upon posting it in the middle of the night.

Love you like Spain loves tomatoes, and I hope you enjoyed it like France enjoys violating anyone/everyone!


	19. Nineteen: Sleep Until Your Troubles Fade

**Author's Note:** OH MY GOD I'M NOT DEAD. I could go on for a long time explaining my mysterious absence, but I think you guys all want to read the story right now, so, as usual, enjoy! (Besides, I'll do that at the end anyway. =P )

* * *

Trying to avoid all eye contact, Maddie found, was a particularly difficult thing to do in such cramped quarters. Her extraordinary skill of noticing the tells of someones lies did not translate into the elevation of her own lying abilities, and if there was anyone in the world who could figure out what it was that she wanted to hide so desperately, it was her father. She kept her eyes glued to her hands and her mouth unnaturally still.

_Of course, because if you stay completely silent, he won't think something is wrong,_ she concluded sourly and sarcastically. In the back of her mind, the sound of low humming was overriding all other thoughts, and she realized that her father was busy inspecting the bandage job of the doctor on Polar Bear. She would have breathed a sigh of relief, because it seemed as though he was not so concerned with her as he was with the animal, but she knew him better than that to let her guard down. Still concentrating on the subtle cracks and patterns on her hands, she tried to recede back into normality by speaking as if nothing had changed.

"I got the doctor to come and bandage him up not too long ago." She could see him nodding silently out of the corner of her eye, but continued to fixate on the bed of her right hand thumbnail. "I'm glad he's going to be just fine," she added, smile breaking onto her face. Another nod this time, though not accompanied by silence.

"So, are you expecting to keep him with us when we leave for home?"

Her heart stopped. She had never even considered what would happen when they had to leave. She had not asked permission from her father to keep the animal, she had only focused upon getting him healthy and moving again. The thought of what to do with him when he was healthy had never even crossed her mind. She supposed she had just assumed that everything would work itself out when the time came, but she could not bear the thought of not taking the creature with her, that is, if the lodge even accepted him. Maddie could not imagine what it would be like to leave him behind. He trusted her, and after all that he had been through, she could not find it within herself to leave him to be alone.

Clearing her throat solemnly and folding her hands on her lap, she confided, "I suppose the thought never even crossed my mind," in a hushed, resigned tone. A breath of air locked itself in the back of her throat and she closed her eyes involuntarily, body attempting to stop the oncoming promise of frustration.

"You know we do not have the room for an animal as large as him," he admitted softly, as if trying to cushion the blow with the comfort surrounding his normally hard voice. Maddie brought her knees up to her chest and nodded in understanding. Her heart sunk and she felt his hand fall hesitantly upon her shoulder before he spoke again, in the softest voice he could possibly manage. "I'm sorry, dear, but as much as I know you want to, I just don't think we can keep him."

She nodded again, but this time not without the sting of salt at the corners of her eyes. The trapped breath in her throat was finally freed, and with it came a choked cough. It would not be right to say that she was used to that particular feeling of disappointment, but it was not unfamiliar to her either. She knew it well enough to control her body before her emotions got too out of hand, so she brought her hands up to her eyes to stop the small amount of tears from protruding any further. She took a deep breath in through her nose, which had not managed to stuff up yet, and let it out slowly and evenly.

"I understand," she said quietly, finally gracing him with the eye contact that she had not allowed him since they had been alone. In that small moment of acceptance, she let her father know that she was sincere in her understanding, but also deeply saddened by it. He repaid her with a rare smile and she was enveloped in a tight hug.

"Such a sensible girl, I knew you would," he half-mumbled into the tangle of her hair. When he pulled away, he looked her straight in the eye to show her the same courtesy she had given him, "and I'm truly sorry that we cannot keep him." He squeezed her shoulder in a comforting manner, but she still found the fact hard to stomach.

She knew that there was no practical way that they could keep such a large animal in their small townhouse. They barely had a backyard big enough for Alfred's antics, let alone big enough for a fully-grown and full-sized dog to run around in. Some deep part of her must have known the day was coming when she would need to accept the realization that keeping an animal in an urban household would not pan out, and that some alternative must be reached.

"Perhaps the owners of the lodge will be willing to take care of him? They do have dogs of their own, you know." It pained her to admit it, but there seemed to be no plausible way for her to keep him as she would have wanted, and perhaps that it was the best option for Polar Bear. Maddie closed her eyes and smiled, outstretching her hand to run through the mess of soft white fur.

"As long as he is well taken care of," she sighed defeatedly. "I just want him to be safe from stuff like this happening again." A finger grazed over the layers of bandages as she spoke, and Maddie straightened her back against the wall behind her.

Out of nowhere, an immense feeling of fatigue settled in her body, and she felt like curling into herself and sleeping for an innumerate amount of days. She did not know whether the feeling came from a lack of rest correlating with the past few days or an emotional tiredness that, on some level, came from dealing with important issues. Barely able to lift an arm in her current state, she struggled through a yawn while attempting to mutter something of apparent importance to her father. From his side, it most likely came out as an incoherent string of mumbles, then she completely fell asleep.

Her body was so drained of all energy for some length of time that she did not stir when she was being transported out of the stuffy, cramped space of the storage room. She was completely unaware of her current location in the comfort of her designated bed, but if she had been, she would have been very thankful for it. At least there she would not wake up with a strange cramp in her neck. All the while, unknown to her, was the continual loss of natural light coming in through the window. Only about an hour into her slumber, the sun had completely set, and the long stretch of night was about to begin. She did not even mind that the hand positioned between her chest and the surface below her was losing bloodflow and fast asleep just as soundly as she was.

The next several hours were much a blur for Maddie. Few and far in between were moments of lucidity, when she would experience some moment of consciousness and see a gold-framed picture in her dream of hear the whistle of hot water ready for use. Once, in her state of fatigued sleep, she could have sworn that she had felt an extra weight being added to her, but no explanation could be formed by her subdued mental capacity, so she dismissed it as if it was nothing. All she could feel was the warmth surrounding her and only the persistent call of rest could be distinguished. Not even a dream was there to disrupt her rest.

Of the two types of dreamless sleep known to her, she would have been glad to know that it was the restful kind of dreamless sleep. Sometimes, when she was much younger, she would have the unpleasant honour of experiencing, almost nightly, the fitful dreamless type of sleep. For the longest time, she found it strange when her brother told her of the pictures he saw and the noises he heard in his sleep. Until about the age of nine, it could be said that she had no idea that dreams existed, and she insisted that she had never had one, and if she had, then she would forget them by the time she awoke.

However, there was some point in time when her body relaxed during sleep, and her mind finally had the chance to dream. The first dream she could ever remember having concerned a very high swing and her desire to reach it so she could climb upon it and swing freely. Even though the dream had very little detail in it, when she had woken up, she had remembered every bit of the little detail that it had entailed. She had been so thrilled about finally having one of the dreams that Alfred told her about so often, that she had not stopped talking about it for weeks afterward.

Currently, though, her body would take a restful sleep over one crowded by dreams. Besides, her mind was also taking a break from reality, and could not be bothered to come up with a crude reflection of her subconscious anyway. There was no solid explanation for why she had become so suddenly fatigued like she had, but by the time she awoke, she could be sure that she would not need another rest like that for some time.

So, she continued to remain in her state of unconsciousness while the night grew colder and darker. People returned from a late dinner in the kitchen, but Maddie's stomach did not so much as rumble in hunger. Once or twice, her father wandered into the room to make sure that she had not kicked the layers of covers off, and to check the general temperature in the room, and would then leave as quietly as he could and return to his reading. At some point in her extensive stretch of sleep, Alfred had burst into the main area of their room, but he was quickly warned to stay silent because his sister seemed to need her sleep pretty badly.

Slowly, the natural sounds of people moving about evened out and eventually died away completely. No more noises of heavy footsteps invaded her rest, and neither did the loud attempted-whispering of her brother or the whistle of hot water. After a while, the whole world seemed to become markedly silent, so much so that even the ticking of the wall clock died off into an absence of sound and movement. The small disturbances in her sleep were no longer there to disrupt her, and by the time the moon disappeared over the far side of the mountain, she was finishing a six-hour block of solid, calm sleep, and her body was responding once more to wakefulness.

"Good mornin' sunshine!"

Or maybe it was just the impossibly energetic voice of her brother that was bringing her back into the world of the wakeful.

She rolled over and mushed her face into the pillow, groaning in dissatisfaction the entire way, in an attempt to block him out, but he would have none of it. While she made grumbling sounds into the innards of her pillow, head hidden underneath the cover of blankets, Alfred decided to climb up on the bed and resort to waking her up with more forceful methods if she did not respond.

"Don't make me do it like you used to do to me when we were little," he warned her in a fake serious tone. She could barely understand a word that he was saying through her shield of pillow and blanket, so she did not respond, hoping that he might leave her be. Unsatisfied, however, he defaulted to his pre-planned tactics and scooted a fraction closer to her sleepy form. Feeling that his hands were sufficiently cold in the early air of the winter morning, he snaked them under her blanket and touched them quickly to the warm back of her neck.

Immediately, her body seized in a moment of confusion from the shock, then her leg kicked out and managed to hit him square in the chest. From the contact, he fell back slightly and she had more space to move, but he still was not about to leave her alone. He started laughing with the little air that he had left in his lungs, and Maddie knew he must be thankful that she hit him much higher than she was originally intending. There had been many times in the past when he had not been so lucky as to merely be winded by the swift kick of her foot.

She uncovered her head cautiously, and seeing that her brother was preoccupied with trying to regain the wind that had been knocked out of him, she found it safe to steal a glance at the wall clock that had become silent through the night. The small hand was directed upward and pointing at the small golden dot that symbolized ten o'clock. It was at that point that she realized that one of two things could have happened.

First, the clock may have actually ceased to work at the exact time in the night which the hands were stuck at, leaving it motionless and silent, and this would have been the option which she preferred. However, the almost inaudible tick resurfaced in her range of hearing and she knew that was not true. Therefore, it left her with the only other plausible option: she had been sleeping for over eighteen hours, something completely unheard of for anyone that happened to know her. She blinked heavily and refocused her eyes upon the circular frame of the clock, but the direction of the hands did not change from what she had seen before.

From beside her, Alfred had finally regained his breath and was climbing off the bed to head towards the window. She allowed her body to roll over in the darkness to follow his form all the way there, but when he reached his destination, she found that to be a grave mistake. Immediately upon the arrival of his body at the window, his hands shot up to the thin plastic rod and he turned it between his fingers. Blinding white light poured into the room and shrunk her pupils to tiny pinpricks. She firmly shut her eyes and once more groaned out of dissatisfaction, while he merely started to laugh again.

"Come on, Maddie. You've been asleep forever," he exclaimed in his dying amusement. "I'm supposed to be the sleepy one, remember? If anyone should have overslept last night, it should have been me!" Her eyes semi-adjusted to the new amount of light in the room, she ventured a peek at him, and found that he was once more at her bedside. It was clear that he was not going to be leaving any time soon. When Alfred set his mind on something, it was very rare that he let it go. She yawned one last time and outstretched her arms over-dramatically.

"Fine, fine," Maddie conceded, placing her feet heavily on the cold floor. "But it's on your head if face plant into my breakfast." Alfred landed an enthusiastic hand on her shoulder.

"Are you kidding? I'm just glad that I didn't have to go find a bullhorn to wake you up with." He clasped his hands together earnestly, "Though it would have been very fun to mess around with." He smiled, mind wandering off to the possibilities of mischief that acquiring a bullhorn could have brought him. While he was preoccupied with his devious thoughts, Maddie took the opportunity to messily throw the covers flat on the bed and retrieve her glasses from the side table and place them on the bridge of her nose. Ever the caring parent, she guessed her father must have brought her all the way up to their room and let her sleep in the comfortable bed, because the last thing she really remembered was the stuffy air of the storage room where Polar Bear was staying.

"I thought you would sleep for days. I was going to resort to extreme measures if this didn't work." It seemed as though Alfred had finally come around to reality once again, and was going to go into detail about all the various methods he could have used to wake her up. Before he could get the chance, however, she cut him off.

"Oh, no, Al. Your voice is _distinctive_ enough to get me out of a deep sleep like that." Smiling, she nudged him in the shoulder on her way to the doorway, and he inflated his chest with a deep, proud breath. By the time he recognized her covert insult, she was already out into the main area of their room.

"Hey!" He started to go after her, but before he could attempt to trap her in a headlock, their father intervened.

"I see he boy was loud enough to not warrant the use of extreme methods of awakening?"

Maddie ducked from underneath the arms looming over her head and coolly sauntered her way over to the squat couch their father was occupying. Alfred followed close behind, completely disregarding his previous intention of noogying her, or maybe he just forgot.

"Yes, Dad. All I needed to hear was dear brother's sweet voice and it immediately jolted my mind into wakefulness," she joked, settling herself into a small armchair closer to the empty fireplace.

"Ah, yes. Who wouldn't awaken with a voice like that around? He could probably awaken Sleeping Beauty herself without so much as a touch to her lips." He continued on with their playful banter at Alfred's expense while the boy just stood complacently, arms crossed across his chest loosely.

"Oh, just his_ voice_ would be enough to pull her from her endless slumber!" Maddie smiled and glanced at her twin brother from the corner of her eye to gauge his reaction to their jaunts. He did not seem as agitated as she had expected, even if his normal reaction to their ritual was usually exaggerated.

"If you two are suggesting that my voice is heroic enough to save any maiden from certain distress without even a physical effort, then I'll gladly take that as a compliment." Alfred stuck his tongue out triumphantly and spun on his heel. Both Maddie and her father were amused by his sudden emergence of wit, so they looked each other in the eye and laughed. Ignoring them, her brother strode over to one of the wood-faced cupboards and lazily swung the door open. Seemingly unsatisfied by its contents, he made a grimacing face, then turned back to Maddie.

"I've been waiting for you to get up for hours so we can go get breakfast, and I'm starving, so can we go now?" She raised an eyebrow at his apparent concern for her well being, considering the fact that he had abstained from pigging down on food to wait for her to awaken. There had to be something more to the situation than that.

"You were waiting for me - of your own accord - so we could eat together?" She shifted her body slightly in the small chair to face Alfred's direction.

"Are you kidding?" He tossed a hand in the air for visual effect. "The old man made me wait for you," he explained, putting sarcastic emphasis on the words 'old man'. "If it were up to me, you'd be eating breakfast by yourself." A small amount of pink tongue poked out from between the shiny white teeth of his playful smile, letting Maddie know that he was kidding, but only slightly. She knew how much he liked his food, and sometimes even his little sister came after his stomach, because he was, after all, a boy.

"Well, then what are we waiting for?" She pushed the flat palms of her hands into the cushion of the chair to help her stand, because her leg was still not holding one hundred percent of its normal weight capacity. Alfred was out the door without a moment's hesitation, but before she could make it past the edge of the couch, her father's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Don't you think you should change out of that bloody shirt first?"

Now, Maddie was used to hearing her father use the word "bloody" in the expletive type of way, but from his tone of voice, she knew that he was not merely insulting her shirt. The problem was, he rarely used that word in any other fashion than the way she had just ruled out. Confused, she could not help but utter a meek "huh?" and turned back towards him in hopes of an explanation. He looked her up and down, then gestured obviously.

"Your shirt, Madeline. It's covered with dried blood, you know." He bobbed his finger up and down in the general direction of her once pure-white t-shirt. She found herself stretching the fabric away from her chest and inspecting the stains somewhat childishly. When she confirmed that there were indeed brownish-red splotches covering the front of her top, she remembered that she had fallen asleep in the same clothes she had visited a bloody Ivan in, and sighed in realization. She called out to Alfred to slow his progress to the downstairs kitchen before he became too far out of earshot.

"Al, you'll have to hold on another few minutes! I have to change my shirt!" From the hallway, a frustrated groan could be heard, and Maddie, still eyeing the shirt heavily, made her way back to the small bedroom to change into something cleaner. She grabbed a rather loose, long-sleeved black top from her suitcase, which she often left open because of its sticky zipper, and pulled the stained shirt over her head, tossing it back on the suitcase all in one fluid motion. She was actually mildly surprised that her brother had not noticed, or if he had, mentioned the fact to her earlier. Surely, he would have wanted an explanation out of her, but it was not exactly Alfred's forte to notice small details like that. He probably just assumed it was part of the shirt's design.

Maddie straightened the bottom of the shirt on her waist, but did not bother to pull the slightly-too-long sleeves up over her hands. Even though they were protected from the elements inside the building, that did not mean that her hands could not get could. Evidently, as she had discovered when she awoke, Alfred's hands had gone cold. Then again, it was possible that he stuck them inside the floor's ice dispenser just so he could wake her up with vengeance for what she used to do to him, and she definitely would not put it past him.

Satisfied with the cleanliness of her top, she decided that she had better not keep Alfred waiting much longer, lest he leave without her and not have anyone to stop him from eating the entire kitchen, which, she guessed, may have been her father's intention behind forcing him to wait for her all along. Heading back out towards the door, though, she found herself slowed by him once again.

"That's much better," he commented, not even shifting his eyes from the page of the book he was reading. "It wouldn't be healthy for you to be walking around with that boy's blood all over you anyway. I'm sure neither of you would want that." He flipped the page and continued reading, while Maddie continued onwards without a second thought of his words. Just as she stepped a foot outside the door, and her brother's face lit up at the promise of food, she stopped in her tracks and turned back to her perceptive father.

"Hey dad," she called, and he lifted his eyes from the page at last. The corner of her mouth upturned in a small smile at his concern for her, and she let him see it, even if it was too tiny for anyone else to pick up. "Thanks, for bringing me up here." He nodded warmly, but before he could return to his page, she added a soft, "and not just the room, up to the lodge too." With a full-fledged smile on her face, she spun graciously back into the hallway, where a very hungry Alfred was awaiting her.

"Geez, What took you so long? And why did you have to change your shirt anyway?" Yes, her brother was still as unperceptive as ever. If it were not for their similar tone facial appearance, Maddie would question if Alfred was even related to her. Considering how observant her father was and how consistently oblivious Alfred was, one would think they were not family at all.

"I was talking to dad, and I changed my shirt because it was dirty," she said lowly, hoping not to draw his attention to the obvious fact that it had been a blood stain that had dirtied the top. She passed him and started walking to the stairwell somewhat unevenly, due to her still-healing foot.

"Oh, you mean that brownish stuff down the front of it?" He asked, matching and beating her stride with every step he took. "I thought that was some design or something. What was it anyway, dried maple syrup?"

Maddie cringed at the situation facing her. She could go along with his suggestion of maple syrup, but he had lived with her long enough to know what proper maple syrup spills looked like. On the other hand, she could lie and say it was some kind of paint or something that fell on her in the storage room, but Alfred was smart enough to figure out that a can of paint falling on her would cause a bigger stain than that. Besides, why would she stay in a paint-stained shirt for that long. She felt she had no choice but to tell him the truth.

"Oh, erm.. that was.. I mean no, the brown stuff wasn't maple syrup," she admitted, starting down the stairs after her brother. "It was, w-well.. it was blood." She braced herself for the slurry of questions that would follow.

"Blood?" He asked, stopping for a brief moment on a stair to allow her to catch up to him. She tensed the muscles in her face, waiting for the usual reaction. "You mean, from that dog you found out in the snow? Dad told me about that, and I want to see him," he finished, moving down to the entry of the stairwell. All of her body relaxed as she too reached the bottom. He had given her an out, and she was all too willing to take it.

"Yes, yes, that's exactly where the blood spatter came from," she answered hastily, still following slower behind her brother. "It came from Polar Bear, that's what I called him, you know. He looks almost like a small polar bear, and I think you'll agree when you see him." Obvious to her was the fact that she was trying to change the subject, but she did not know how obvious it would be to Alfred.

"Really? We should go see him after breakfast, then," he said, happily distracted from the absurdity of a canine's bullet wound openly spurting blood at Maddie. She breathed in a deep, silent sigh of relief.

Well, she had at least told him _half_ the truth. It _was_ blood.

* * *

I offer you all a million of my most Canadian apologies for leaving you for over a month sans update, but there are many reasons contributing to that prolonged delay, and it is up to you to decide whether or not you accept them as valid. First, for a little over two weeks following my last update, I was away from home visiting family who like to have lives and go out, while I usually spend that time in my room writing because my tiny town has nothing else better to offer (not that I don't love writing). So you can see how those two weeks are accounted for, but what about the rest, you ask? I regret to inform you that I had a lapse in interest of any type of writing following that vacation, but I have recently re-adjusted to my hermit life and found the inspiration to write once more. I really felt bad about not updating, but I just didn't have any good ideas on how to continue from where I stopped last chapter. Since then, I have found more motivation to write and have stopped being mentally lazy, sitting around watching episodes of Criminal Minds and So You Think You Can Dance Canada all day long (though I do love those shows dearly.) So, it's all clear sailing from here, you ask hopefully? Well, not exactly, and this is the hard part. Being the nerdy teenager I am, I found it only natural that after finishing my high-school education I should start university education, which means wonders for my social life (compared to now, I assure you), but may be bad news for my update speed. Being a new university student in a week's time, I will not have much spare time for writing, and I literally have no idea how often I'll be able to update. We'll see, and I _may_ know by the next time I put up a new chapter. I _do_ have a promise for all my dear readers, however. Ahem:

No matter how long it takes me to write chapters, no matter how little free time I have for writing and developing ideas, no matter how stressed I am with university classes on my shoulders, I give you all my sincerest promise that I will** never** abandon this story, or any other that I may start in the (very) distant future. With this promise, dear readers, you can rest easy between the who-knows-how-long-it-will-take updates. I Girl-Guides', spit-shake, pinky-swear, cross-my-heart, promise you this fact, okay, and I thank you all for your unwavering support.

/end monster Author's Note.


	20. Twenty: Awaching From a Slumber

**Author's Note:** "Holy Mother of Pancakes!", you say? I'm not dead! No, no I am not dead! And I am very happy indeed to be back. A lot has changed in the last few months, such as my amount of free time, where I live and my age and such, but one thing that has not changed is my dedication to keeping promises. I apologize profusely for such a long absence, but I am still holding to my promise, I assure you all. I will never abandon an unfinished story! I started work on this chapter in late late October (believe it or not) but didn't have any solid time to write until the winter break. You'll be pleased to know that I've also started bits of forthcoming chapters, and I have plans in the works for the ending. Fear not readers, I refuse to let a good thing die. So, here's to my very first update in the new year, and I hope you guys all had a wonderful holiday season. My New Year's resolution this year is to work harder to make time for my writing, because it's really a great thing to do in my downtime from schoolwork and such. Happy New Year and happy reading! =D

* * *

Ivan awakened that next day to an all-consuming headache and an emptied vodka bottle toppled over on the side table.

He had spent a fair portion of the night wandering the halls of the building, waiting for an appropriate length of time to pass so he could return to his room unnoticed. For a couple of the hours preceding though, he stationed himself in the kitchen, eating a meagre dinner (meagre because the roads to the resort had not yet opened), and slipping small splashes of alcohol into his drink when he thought no one was watching. He had kept to himself despite the inebriating effects of the liquor, but never backed down from the accusing eye contact of others with which they seemed to entirely overlook his obvious pain. Sure, painkillers may work for those people, but they do not always work so well for everyone else. This was the stance he took on the matter, and he continued to slowly empty the bottle throughout the meal.

By the time he had consumed his entire plate of food, the bottle was considerably lighter than it had been when he had sat down, but he was not yet noticeably heavy-footed. With an unanticipated amount of grace, he had pulled his entire body length out of the small chair and slid the seat back under the table. Patting the liquid safely in his pocket, he had left the kitchen without a glance back to meander through the quiet halls.

By the end of the night, he had internalized every square metre of the first floor.

There were two floors to the lodge, a fact that he had not bothered to register in his mind prior to that night. Despite the outwardly old-fashioned appearance of the building, the technological virtues of it showed signs of movement into the 21st century. The elevator, for example (which was by then back in working order), was near flawless stainless steel with a modern touch keypad and digital numbers for reading floor level, though it was really unnecessary considering there were only two floors in the building. He had considered it needless splurging on the owner's part.

On the ground floor, of course, was the lounge, cozy and homely in its design with the numerous couches scattered throughout from movement of patrons who slept on them. The walls were freshly painted, but he could see that the renovations of the building had not yet reached the floors. Beneath his feet had been a layering of that tacky 70s carpet found almost selectively in baby boomers' houses, because it had been in style at the time. As he had carried on through the halls, he had found that at some points the carpet was so worn through that one could nearly see the wooden baseboards peeking from underneath, hidden behind a veil of decades-old stitching and carpet wool. He had passed the kitchen entirely and carried on past the first-floor rooms to another hallway.

This one was markedly narrower, and he had recognized it from earlier as that which housed Madeline's canine friend. The floor had changed from worn carpet to worn linoleum flecked with grey and tinted yellowish from years of resort-goers steps. There were quite a few locked doors there, all situated on the right side of the hallway from where he had stood, and closely spaced in relation to one another - clearly it was a hallway of small storage rooms built for some reason or another. At the end was, of course, the room where he had been rash enough to be decked by an aggressive Dutch man.

The room itself probably served as a TV room, he had concluded, seeing how there was an almost brand-new television nestled close against the wall, something he had completely failed to notice in his previous visit. Though, it was understandable that he would miss it considering the circumstances. The same style of couch found in the lounge was positioned to face the TV, and the small side table showed a light scrape against the dark wood. He had found the overall atmosphere of the empty room to be displeasing, so he had not lingered there much longer than a few minutes, and continued back through the narrow hallway to turn left towards the games room.

The lights were off when he had entered, and it was late enough in the day for the window to not be any source of brightness. He did not need the lights on to know the exact position of everything in the room, however. His early-hour air hockey tournament had left him with a lasting impression of the area. Without turning on the lights, or even considering the idea at all for that matter, he had allowed himself to settle into the small love seat in the middle of the room. There, he had sat in the darkness for an undefinable period of time, periodically removing the glass bottle from his coat pocket and twisting the small metal cap between his fingers to allow air to seep into the bottle. The moments when the glass had been secured in his pocket, he had elected to settle his thick hands upon his stomach, fingers sporadically drumming against his diaphragm, and to just breathe in the cold air of the room which was so far away from any lit fireplace.

He had lingered there for quite some time, until his memory had become hazy and distant from the presence of alcohol in his system. When he awoke the next day, he faintly remembered detecting the familiar smell of crisping maple leaves as his mind had clouded over. He had no recollection of returning to his room after leaving the dark and cold games room behind. Evidently, he had found some absurd way of getting all the way through the halls and back up the stairs without so much as a memory.

A running pulse pounded in his temples and every muscle in his body seemed to be screaming murder in protest as he attempted to get out of the bed which he did not remember flopping himself onto. He could barely stand himself upright without his knees giving out or shaking from exhaustion. Clearly, the sleep had done his body little to no good, but he thought perhaps a hot shower could do so instead. Dissatisfied in seeing the empty glass bottle residing on the night table, Ivan dragged himself to the minuscule bathroom off the bedroom and flicked on the fluorescent lighting, effectively intensifying the pounding kick of his headache.

Closing his eyes tightly and scrunching his face in agony, he leaned his back into the door and let it click shut behind him while trying to adjust to the new-found brightness of the room. Only when he was sure the pounding of his head had returned to what it had been in bed did he turn the tap of the shower to as hot as it could go. He tried not to disturb any of his protesting muscles as he removed his clothes and moved his back under the steady stream of hot water, not even bothering to close the plastic shower curtain.

Before he even had the chance to let the water roll over his hair, it was matted and clinging to his head just from the amount of steam swirling in the air. The environment he had created was almost more like a sauna than a simple shower, as the low temperature of the bathroom had allowed for rapid condensation of the water vapour streaming out of the shower head. Right away, every pore in his body started to sweat, but the oils and dirt of days passed were quickly and effortlessly carried away by the constant flow of water. Even Ivan's muscles seemed to cease their burning, if only for the relatively short amount of time he was in the profuse heat of his make-shift sauna.

He did not bother to use anything other than a small amount of soap; the sheer temperature of the water was enough to clean away anything the soap missed. With every second that passed, his body and muscles seemed to loosen up and not hurt so much when he moved even in increasingly large motions. He stayed under the water for a good five minutes after he was done washing, his knees no longer threatening to give way underneath the weight of his body. Then, in the quickly disappearing fog of steam, he stood for another period of time after the shower was shut off.

Aside from the large, wandering last portion of his day, every detail from before was in perfect focus for him. Every single thing from discovering the vodka hidden at the back of Dr. Wang's cupboard to his encounter with Maddie in the cramped storage room was surprisingly clear. Not that it should have been surprising to him that he could not hold his alcohol well, because he actually was quite a master at it; He had spent months hiding the habit from Katyusha before she had forced him to stop. Despite her protests, he always claimed it was not a huge problem for him anyways - by no means did he consider himself an alcoholic.

He held alcohol well, rarely found himself in compromising situations because of it, and thoroughly enjoyed the burning sensation vodka in particular gave him as the liquid slid down his throat. On more defensive days, he might even argue that it gave him the means to act upon things he would regularily ignore. Evidence to back up this point being the events of the previous day. He could not explain how, and he could not explain why, but something about that damned Canadian girl just got to him, and wrapped itself around the core of his mind with no promise of ever coming free.

Maybe Natalya had been right in her assumptions, but it was not a conscious decision that he had made to be intrigued by Maddie Kirkland, it was merely a consequence of fate and moronic brothers. Luckily for him, she had not seemed so repulsed by his actions as to expel him from her presence, but he was not sure if it was enjoyment or just shock on her part that had kept her from doing so. He would not admit to anyone that he had enjoyed the kiss for anything that it was, but rather for the reaction it had triggered in the girl. After all, he did have a soft spot for messing with people, but that would not appear to be the only reason he had kissed her in the first place.

Still, pounding headaches like the one he presently had were usually non-existent to him. He fully considered the occurrence to be caused by the length of time he had gone without drinking; his body had become unaccustomed to the presence of alcohol in his system, so it was acting out against him like a teenager in rebellion against his parents, and no matter how much Ivan did enjoy the warming in his body, he was not so sure he enjoyed the headache as much.

This headache, which surprisingly enough was seeming to lull with the dissipation of the steam from the air, was the first he had had in a long while at that intensity. Though it was fading, it was definitely still very present, but was not nearly as prominent as it had been when he had woken up. Feeling much better than he had immediately preceding the shower, he easily stepped out without so much as a whimper from his muscles, and collected his clothing, which had collected a notable amount of moisture from the humid air. With the opening of the door, a mist of leftover steam followed after him as he continued on into the bedroom. The blinds were closed and the door was locked, so he did not mind being void of clothing for the short period of time that passed as he rifled through his bags for something clean and crisp to mirror his increasing feeling of alertness and ease.

His skin air-dried and being satisfied with the clothing he had found, Ivan dressed himself without the searing of muscles accompanying each move. As he pulled his shirt over his head, though, another part of his body seemed to be protesting. It was not his still-healing flesh wound on his nose, or any of the other splits or tears marking his face, nor was it the healing skin between his thumb and forefinger. His stomach seemed to be making a sound somewhere between growling and eating itself, and he quickly realized that he had not eaten much of anything in the last couple of days.

To Ivan, the most simple and obvious solution would be to make his way down to the kitchen in the hopes of discovering that the roads had finally been opened and that food supplies had finally arrived at the lodge. However, this seemingly simple action was unfortunately delayed by the startled gasp of his older sister. Apparently, he had forgotten that despite washing the blood and sweat off with his burning shower, the swelling of his various facial contusions and cuts could still be clearly seen by Katyusha's ever-inspecting gaze.

She had missed him coming in last night, but when she awoke early in the morning, she had become aware of his presence by the faint sound of snoring coming from his room. Being respectful of his privacy, she had not intruded, and had instead allowed him to sleep until he was rested up. When she had heard the shower kick on, she smiled in anticipation because she felt like she had not seen him in days. His reclusive tendencies had worked their magic once again, pervading the exact cause of their trip up to the lodge - to spend more time together, and she was eager to fulfill that cause.

When Ivan had questioned her about her motives behind dragging them up to the mountains, she had simply stated that the three of them needed to spend more time together as siblings, instead of her acting as the ever-worried mother figure, and the other two like reclusive teenagers. However, upon seeing the swelling and bruising obstructing the features on Ivan's face, Katyusha could not help but revert back to her role as parental figure. Immediately, she rushed towards him and seized his face between her thick hands. He felt her firmly twisting his head to inspect the damage.

"What in the world happened to you, brother?" She stood back slightly, her hands still firmly grasping his chin as she scanned the injuries in astonishment. "You look like you were attacked by a shovel!" Her lack of mastery of English translated to a lack of finesse with appropriate comparisons, but Ivan did not bother to supply a more fitting end to her statement. Instead, he merely pulled his face from her grip and took a slight step backwards so to create more distance between them, thereby making it harder for her to do the same thing again. As gentle as she had been, his face was tender and it had caused a significant amount of discomfort for him.

To make it easier for her to express herself, Ivan switched to conversing in Russian, and explained to her that the injuries were nothing serious and that she should refrain from worrying. Not satisfied with his response, she moved to grasp his face once more, but he seized her wrist in his iron grip before she could make contact with his skin. She frowned at his resistance and politely asked him to release her arm. Ivan nodded and promised that he would, but only on the condition that she would not attempt to touch his face or prod at his injuries again. She agreed and they became disconnected all at once.

"It is nothing, sister. Everything is healing and I will be fine if left to my own accord." He brought a hand up to his lips and covered the stitched and swollen side. The concern did not leave her eyes even when he was denying her aid, but she did not touch him any further. Ivan had worked so long to be independent of her nursing and her stifling over-protection that - at least on the surface - he merely brushed her off as a circumstantial obstacle. This disregard from one of the most trusted people in her life hurt Katyusha, but she tried her best to hide it and instead keep cheerful. After all, she knew Ivan would come around eventually, but it would only take time for him to realize the hurt he was causing the people around him.

She was hoping that some of the more recent connections in his life might help reawaken him to the boy he used to be, when he was happier and more optimistic and allowed others to rely on him as well as allowed himself to rely on others.

Ivan watched as she took a hesitant step backwards and brought her curled hands slowly up to her own face, breathing deeply. She nodded solemnly, a look of helplessness briefly overcoming the usual cheerful shimmer in her eyes, which returned after a moment of complete silence on her part.

"Okay, brother," she sighed defeatedly, "I trust you." She reached out a hand to squeeze his forearm in a comforting way, and he did not flinch. She was watching him intently for a moment, seeming to be studying him before she added hopefully, "I only wish that one day you will be able to trust others once again." Ivan watched as his sister turned away from him and busied herself with fixing a broken ski pole. He stood completely still for a long period of time, struggling with processing her words or brushing them off as he usually did, when he was interrupted by the violent rumbling of his own stomach, crying out desperately for some sort of sustenance. The thoughts were effortlessly pushed from his mind.

At that moment Ivan remembered that, before his thought process had been halted by his sister, he had been intending to eat something that would qualm the protests of his empty stomach. He left his sister feeling dejected, though he did not intend to make her feel that way, and wandered downstairs to the kitchen.

The moment he stepped out of the stairwell, the unmistakable scent of pancakes drifted into his nose, and the sound of people bustling about in pleasant conversation fell on his ears. From the sound - and smell - of things, a path had at last been cleared and deliveries were now able to be made to the lodge. The insistence of his stomach only became stronger as he stepped into the kitchen and his feet led him immediately to the source of the delicious smell. He had not had a proper full meal in a few days, so his mouth watered and his stomach did back flips at the promise of food.

Better than he could have imagined, there was not only a fresh batch of pancakes being laid out in front of him, but also a vast array of fruits and cereals and muffins awaiting his arrival. He barely had enough room on his plate for all that he wanted to consume. The trucks that had made it up to the resort must have delivered for not only the patrons that remained there, but also for the ones of whom they were unaware had left before the brunt of the storm had struck, and that meant more than enough food for everyone left in the lodge twice-over.

His plate groaning under the sheer weight of all the food he had piled onto it, Ivan decided that the absurd amount should be sufficient. He did not usually eat so much food at one time, but with both the almost-angry growls of his stomach and the delicious smell floating in the air influencing him, it made the pancakes and fruit and muffins all just mysteriously congregate on his plate without reason. He almost felt like Alfred with so much food waiting to be eaten by him, but another rumble from his abdomen justified such outright gluttony.

His only problem now was finding somewhere to sit and eat it all.

Because, on that clear Friday morning, with the roads clear enough for a delivery to be made, everyone's stomachs seemed to have the same idea that his had. Every single table in the small seating area was currently being occupied by groups of hungry skiers and snowboarders who had been just as deprived of food as he had. From the difference in noise level from anywhere else in the building to that one room at that moment, he was sure that nearly everyone was there eating. One quick glance around the room confirmed that, at the least, nearly all those he had come into contact with were present.

Amongst the crowd, he could make out the distinct voice of the cheerful Italian he had met, and when he turned his eyes to find the source, he saw the German man accompanying him at their table. With them were two others, one boy who looked much like the Italian, probably related, and the other with dark brown hair and naturally tanned skin. The second Italian seemed to be deeply annoyed by the fourth man.

Sitting at the table just to the side of those four were three young men, all with fair hair, and two with neutral expressions on their faces. The third was speaking animatedly, much to the displeasure of one of the others. Ivan recognized the loud one as the man who had awoken him that one night with his obnoxious laugh, trying to get a picture of his friend's marker-covered face. The third, with hair almost a silvery-white blonde, he had never seen before.

He also spotted the seemingly only three employees of the resort eating in silence at a table in the most remote corner of the room. Ivan had heard that it was Roderich's parents who owned the entire property, but he had not seen so much as a glance of them. He had only seen Roderich, Vash, and Vash's younger sister, who seemed to be trying to initiate a civil conversation between the two men.

Ivan wondered if anyone more had left since the roads had been announced as safe to drive.

To his displeasure, he saw a two-person table being occupied by Nikolaas and a female companion of the man's. He was eating without speaking while the blonde woman accompanying him seemed to be enjoying his discomfort. From what Ivan could make out of her words, she had warned him something "like that" would happen as soon as they had arrived at the resort. The Dutch man continued to ignore her in favour of stuffing a slice of apple in his mouth.

Ivan scanned the room once more in search of an empty place to sit, and he jumped at the chance when he saw a rather large family of mixed Asian heritage leave the far-too-small-for-them table free. He imagined that his sisters would probably join him at some point, so taking a four-person table was of no consequence to him. He settled into one of the vacant chairs and got started on eating his mountain of food.

He made a distinct point of not inhaling the food on sight, instead opting to eat slowly and evenly. The amount of food he had taken was enough to last him the whole day, and he did not need to be losing it any sooner that he intended. Eating too fast with small amounts of alcohol still running through his system was probably not the best idea in the world, so he took small bites at a time. In doing so, he gave himself time to do one of the things he enjoyed most, and that was watching and observing people in their mundane activities.

Ivan much preferred observing others to being in the centre of any action, that is, unless the action just so happened to be him winning over someone else. Aside from that one exception, he very much enjoyed merely watching others as they interacted. Even if it was just a single person eating alone or two people having a frivolous argument, the appeal of people-watching did not lose its touch for him.

Upon scanning the room once more while at the same time chewing a forkful of pancake, Ivan realized that there were two distinct personalities absent from the room. Strange, it seemed, because wherever he went, those two always seemed to be hanging around. Thinking he must have simply overlooked them, he searched the room for two heads of blondish hair, one tinged red and one a more sandy colour, but to no avail. He secretly worried that they had been some of the ones who had left just as the roads had been announced as clear, but before the thought could consciously enter his head, a familiar voice from behind stopped him.

"C-can't we find somewhere else, please?" A second voice joined as they moved closer to the Russian through the sea of hungry people.

"Do you see anywhere else open? Besides, I thought you were friends with this guy."

The two he had been looking for had arrived in the kitchen, as if on cue. With no pain, the swollen side of Ivan's lip curled in amusement. The voices were very close to him now, and before the boy's hand could make contact with Ivan's broad shoulder, he answered the yet unasked question.

"Yes, these spots are not taken." He was hoping to take Alfred off-guard with the preemptive strike, but his go-with-the-flow attitude prevented any such trickery. Maddie, on the other hand, seemed as nervous as the first time they had met. The two siblings sat down in the chairs opposite Ivan, Alfred's plate heaping with what he guessed to be nearly twice as much food as he had taken himself. The blonde started on it right away, never missing a beat, while Maddie chose to cut her pancakes before ingesting them to prevent any chance of choking that might arise.

"Hey, dude. What happened to your face?" Despite his mouth being half-filled with pancake, Ivan could still make out what Alfred was saying. "Someone sure did a good job of beating you with the ugly stick, am I right?" He laughed at his own joke, and though he was not bothered by Alfred, Ivan did not see the joke in his words. From beside her brother, Maddie seemed to be choking on something, a consequence probably caused by her brother's overt rudeness. Ivan waited for the excitement to clear before choosing to respond. After a moment, she swallowed whatever had been disrupting her airway, and smacked her brother's arm.

"Al, don't be so rude!"

"Aww, come on," he teased. "You know I was just joking, right big guy?"

Though he did not much appreciate the nickname Alfred had taken to calling him, Ivan wanted to avoid having to answer his teasing question, so he merely nodded his head and continued to eat his breakfast.

"See, everything is fine, Madd," the boy sighed between mouthfuls of food. "You overreact way too much."

Ivan spent a great deal of time watching Maddie from the corner of his eye, both of them eating in near silence as Alfred continued to supply most of the conversation. Ivan could have sworn that the boy could have a full conversation just by himself, but that he would most likely be in want of an audience in any case. Occasionally Maddie responded to some of Alfred's more straightforward questions, but Ivan could not understand why she had reverted back to being so nervous all of a sudden. He still could not figure it out, even by the time her brother had finished his monstrously large plate of food. Ivan was nearly done his food, but that was only because of the jump start he had had. Maddie still had a few bites of pancake left and an entire orange to peel and eat.

"I'm gonna run to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute, Madd, and then I want you to show me your little friend, alright?" He did not wait for a response before taking off. Apparently the need was just to strong to warrant waiting for a split second "okay," but Ivan was sure that Maddie was used to that sort of shenanigans by that point in her life.

As soon as Alfred was out of sight, Ivan saw Maddie's entire body relax out of the corner of his eye. She let out a great big sigh and turned to him immediately, the earlier cloud of nervousness all but gone from her attitude.

"You're so lucky that he likes to talk to himself." There was indeed no trace of quiver to be heard in her voice at all, something that stumbled Ivan yet again. "If he finds out about yesterday, he's going to do all but kill you, understand?" The tiny imaginary gears in his head decided to click at that moment.

Alfred was not only the "I'm the hero who likes to eat food and be generally outspoken and borderline annoying" type, but from the serious expression on Maddie's face, he also seemed to be the type of brother who liked to be severely overprotective of his younger sister. Ivan could not help but give his half-swollen smirk.

It was not like Ivan was completely harmless, and after all, trying to avoid an overprotective brother was part of the game.

"This could be fun, you know," he stated, letting a flash of tooth find its way out. Completely free of her previous shadow of nervousness, Maddie heaved a great sigh and let her head fall on the table.

"You're ridiculous. You know that, don't you?" Alfred re-appeared around the corner and Ivan grabbed a hold on one of Maddie's sprawled hands.

"Oh yes, I know," he smiled. Looking refreshed, Alfred returned to the table.

"Alright Maddie, let's go and see the dog now!" Immediately, her back straightened and she wrenched her hands from Ivan's grip, trying to hide it from her brother.

Reverting back to her state of nervous wreck, she agreed and jumped up as swiftly as possible. Before they could make it one step away, however, Ivan decided to interject.

"Would you mind if I came along too? I very much enjoy little Polar Bear's company." He flashed the two of them a sugar-sweet smile, and Maddie smacked herself in the face behind her brother's line of vision.

"Yeah, sure," Alfred replied. "I don't see why not."

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Again, I want to apologize for making you guys wait so long, and I'm also sorry this is a little bit of a low-action type chapter. (Oh yes, and I apologize for the horrible pun in the chapter title as well. I couldn't help myself.) As you can see, however, things are only going to build from here to the ending. As far as I can tell right now, this story should be around thirty chapters, which is a lot more than I expected, believe me. It's great to be back, I must say, and I sincerely hope you guys are still around. I appreciate each an every one of you for your faith in me, and I will continue to do my best to not disappoint. Much love, and here's for good things to come in 2011!


	21. Twentyone: Pain Renewed

**Author's Note:** Okay, so I was going to wait to update until I was completely finished the entire story, but you guys have faithfully waited long enough. I still keep my promise, though it has taken a _very_ long time. If all goes well, I should continue to write regularly and will finish shortly, even with my working full time. Hopefully I can get things wrapped up before I start school again in September. Happy reading!

* * *

The air was becoming hotter and more suffocating with every passing minute. The door was wide open, but somehow the body heat still managed to trap itself inside the small room off the narrow hallway. She could not tell if it was this specific environmental factor that was causing her to become increasingly anxious, or the fact that Ivan was sitting so damn close to her.

Upon their arrival, the wolf-like canine had merely lifted his head in mild interest, then had gone back into a graceful sleep. It was funny how creatures got into those kinds of moods when nothing could disturb them, not even the constant prodding and petting of a very excited teenage boy. She would mentally note that she could not use the word 'pair' here, because while Ivan seemed very interested in Polar Bear, it would be wrong for him to be ever described as excited.

The reason she was anxious to begin with was the unpredictability of the third member of their party. At the moment, he seemed to be supremely distracted by the sleeping white form, but she would have expected more torture from him at that point. Still, it was possible that at any moment he might decide that he was bored with the slumber of such a creature and turn his attention to making Maddie squirm. This was the complicated and nerve-wracking part. Just when she thought she was safe, it was possible for him to take all of that security away and reach for her hand, or worse.

It was not like she was completely opposed to the affections, as she had been ignored by most for so long that it was strangely welcomed, but the presence of her older twin brother was what made everything harder. She was aware of the almost fatherly protective shadow that Alfred had upon her at all times that she was within his scope of attention, but that did not mean that she accepted it. She could take care of herself, even though she appreciated his concern.

Luckily, for a great length of time, it seemed like she would not have to worry too much about the two who had accompanied her. Even if Ivan had tried to make some kind of silent move to incriminate her, Alfred was far too distracted by Polar Bear to notice, or to even register anything he might throw her way. It was convenient for her that he was, because even through his very focused state of interest, Ivan had managed to place a hand on her calf, which she had immediately pushed off.

"It's too bad that we can't keep him, Mad. He would be the perfect dog for me, if he stopped sleeping so much." He continued to pet the dog's head as he spoke, and Maddie composed herself.

"He was not this sleepy earlier, Al. Maybe he's just tired right now, and we should leave him be for awhile," she suggested, standing up slowly in the cramped quarters of the room.

"He's kinda like you then, right? He likes to sleep all the time." Obviously he had not registered a word she had said, which, while frustrating, worked to her advantage in certain aspects. Mainly though, she had learned to ignore his idiosyncrasies and just continue on with his train of thought.

"I do wish we could keep him too, but we don't have a big enough place to have a dog. We'll have to figure out somewhere or someone to keep him." She sighed, gazing longingly at the canine's tired face. Next time she saw Vash or Roderich, she would have to talk to one of them. Leaning back down again, she pulled the lid off of a small bucket of kibble that her father had left. As soon as she did so, Polar Bear's eyes opened slowly and he stood up to get a proper angle for eating.

Ivan at last rose to his feet and exited the room. Maddie said goodbye to Polar bear and closed the door behind herself, making sure to close it tightly.

"So," Alfred started casually, finally broken free from the spell of interest the canine had cast upon him. "What are we going to get up to today? Do you think that it's safe to be out skiing today?" It was funny that he should ask that, as she had just been wondering the same thing, but more like if it was safe for herself.

She shrugged, "I'm not sure, but I guess we can find that out by asking ,right?" She glanced over her shoulder at Ivan, who was being unusually quiet. He seemed to be buried deep in thought, and probably had not heard any of the siblings' conversation. It was just as well, as he would have less focus to be bothering her if he was distracted by something else.

They came to the end of the narrow hallway and could at last walk in some other fashion than single file.

As if on cue, Vash caught the three of them just as they were coming around the corner. He raised his hand to signal the group to stop, and pulled a piece of paper from his shirt pocket.

"In case you three were interested, we've cleared the hills for skiing."

Alfred's eyes lit up immensely at this, and he immediately started to babble. Maddie was excited by the prospect of being able to ski some more as well, but in the back of her mind there were serious doubts setting up camp about her ability to do so. She was just beginning to be used to walking on her injury, and was not sure that she was well enough to put considerable pressure from skiing on it quite yet.

Vash had still not unfolded the curious piece of paper, and she wondered what it could possibly be for. After all, she had taken note that he had purposely brought it out when he had run into them. Also relevant was the fact that he still looked like he had more to reveal.

"I know you three were all signed up for the competition," he started. Maddie's heart rate was increasing with every syllable bouncing off his thin lips. "And even though some of those who did sign up have since left, we have decided that a friendly competition of sorts is what everyone needs at this point."

She had completely forgotten about the imminent competition scheduled for the end of the week, in fact, the very next day. It was already Friday, and the contest had originally been planned for that Saturday. All of a sudden she had the greatest urge to wrap up her foot tenfold in bandage and find another larger boot to fit it if necessary, just so she could participate. She wanted to run upstairs at that very moment and grab her skis, which had not seen nearly as much snow as she had wanted them to, and start getting some practice time in.

"So, if you are still interested, we will be starting tomorrow at ten in the morning. Since the loss of volume of competitors, it should not run past noon." Technically if there were not as many people competing, it would possibly be easier to win, but remembering how Alfred had talked about Ivan's skill and prowess, somehow she did not think it would be as easy as it seemed. That is, if she felt she could even compete.

"We are planning a small celebration for the night time as well," he continued. "The trucks came in with a large stock of food, so we will be having a dinner of ham and mashed potatoes for all who are left, as well as fresh baked buns and lots of fruit and vegetables." He said the second part begrudgingly, as if the idea of giving away that much food at once went against the entire fibre of his being. He waved them a stinted goodbye and carried on his way.

"Well, I guess that answers the question of what we are going to be doing today," Ivan chimed, the first thing he had uttered in quite some time.

The first thing she had to do upon walking through the door was find her skis and poles, most likely buried underneath a pile of dirty clothes at this point, neglected by cause of no usage. She dug enthusiastically through pants and sweaters, like a dog digging up a long-lost bone, and at last saw the grip of a pole. Setting everything she needed aside, she tossed all the clothes across the room, in the general direction of her suitcase.

The next thing on her list was her boots, which she faintly remembered taking off and kicking either in the closet or under the bed. She had no luck in the bedroom closet, or even the main closet, so the only other option was under the bed. She kneeled down and crouched over to get a good vantage point and saw two footwear-shaped shadows at the head of the bed. She stretched her arms as far as she could, but still could not reach.

In a stroke of genius, she grabbed one of the skis she had set aside and slid the tip of it towards the boots, nudging them close enough for her to grab. Triumphantly, she picked up all her gear and set it on the couch near the door. The next thing she would have to do would be find some more padding for her injured foot, but not so much that it would no longer fit into her boots. Rummaging through her bag, she found a couple pairs of socks and decided that she would slip them all on her healing foot. She carried those too out onto the couch while she prepared to dress for the cold weather outside.

Most importantly was her jacket, which she found quite easily and stuffed it under her arm while she looked for the rest of her things. She knew where her proper pants were, as well as her toque and scarf, but could only find one of her gloves. The one she was able to locate happened to be in the side pocket of one of her bags, but when she searched it, and all the other pockets on the bag, she could not for the life of her find the second one.

The last time she remembered having the gloves, she was sure that they had both been put in the same pocket, so she could not understand where the second had gotten to. Starting to search through every drawer in the room, she found a multitude of other things, but could not find that pesky other glove. She was tempted to search through the pocket again, but instead opted to search under the bed again. Nothing was there.

Giving up temporarily, she attended to her growing pile of equipment and warm clothing and emptied her arms onto the couch, her father watching in quiet curiosity the entire time. Though she had still not found the other glove, she pulled the first on and began to equip herself for the weather outside. Maddie pulled all the extra socks onto her one foot and made sure her toque was on tight.

Next came the more tricky part.

She pulled on one boot with ease, but knew the second was going to be a bit harder to manage. To help ease the process, she decided she would open it up a little more to allow for the extra size of her foot. When she stuck her hand inside the boot to do so however, she felt something soft, like fabric, inside the footwear itself. She grabbed a hold of it with two fingers and pulled it out.

Hidden in the toe of the boot was the missing piece of clothing. Pleasantly surprised, she worked her fingers into the recently-found glove and admired her two now-matching hands.

"Come on, you slowpoke! Hurry up, I don't want to waste any more time!" He swayed impatiently in front of the open door, waiting for her to be done with her preparations.

Stuffing her foot into the boot snugly, she was at last finished padding herself. Alfred took this as a sign to head out and disappeared down the hallway. Maddie finally grabbed her skis and poles and followed her brother out of the room, yelling a goodbye to her father through the closed door.

They were to meet back downstairs almost exactly half an hour after they had departed, with everyone ready to test out their skis (or snowboard in Alfred's case) and the snow that the blizzard had left outside. Trying to catch up to her speedy brother, Maddie hurried as fast as she could down the staircase, only to be greeted by more people than she had expected. On her way down, a little bit of her excitement and anticipation seemed to disappear.

Ivan had managed to collect his two sisters in the process of grabbing his equipment, which Maddie did not object to, but it seemed that Ivan had a problem with it. He was constantly trying to wriggle his arm free from the grasp of Natalya, who had the grip of a crab on an unsuspecting beach-goer, it seemed. It did not help that he was attempting to hold not only his stuff but hers as well, making it much easier for her to get her way than for him.

"Hello Madeline!" Katyusha hummed in a sing-song voice, dropping her bags to envelop her in a tight bear hug.

"Let's skip the greetings! I've been waiting all week for another chance to get out on the slopes and that time is now!" Alfred exclaimed this with such excitement and giddiness that Maddie was, in the most mild sense of the word, jealous. She wished she could have some sense of anticipation, but she had a half-hearted feeling that she would not be spending too much time skiing that day. Silently, the group started to make its way toward the back door, gear in every hand except Natalya's, who had Ivan's left arm in both hands.

To distract the group from the awkward silence, Maddie suggested that they not venture out onto the hills themselves, as she was not sure how much she could handle. No one besides Alfred had any significant objections, so Katyusha found a small, gradual hill not too far away from the back door of the building. Alfred, of course, decided to head straight for the ski lift, leaving Maddie alone with the strange siblings.

Looking out at the landscape, it seemed like every single person still present at the lodge was out skiing or snowboarding. That is, every person except her father, who did not seem to be more interested in the outside world than his current book of choice.

Both she and Alfred knew this vacation was more for them than it was for him, as he was contented to sit in his favourite chair all day reading book after book. He read mostly fairy tales and fantasy stories, but also literary classics. His most current conquest happened to be Robinson Crusoe. Still, sometimes he would venture out with them, and even though he was no expert, he could hold his own against them. It was not that he was no good at skiing, it was that he preferred to do other things most of the time.

The snowy hills that lay behind the lodge expanded into the distance. Just yesterday, the scene would have looked like a barren white wasteland apart from the trees. Now, small, black, moving figures dotted the landscape, most likely skiers and snowboarders preparing for the following day's competition, which is what she should have been doing. However, she was hesitant to put pressure on her foot for fear of not being able to sustain or stand it.

Fear was keeping her from doing the thing she loved. She did not want to have to face the fact that she would have to wait a further period of time before returning to her athletic capacity. It was possible that she might even miss the rest of the season. Maddie was consumed with thoughts and doubts and fears, but she forgot to take the time to think positive. Katyusha's gentle voice snapped her from her swirling thought process.

"Are you ready to try this out, Maddie? "

Maddie paused for a moment, but she realized that her fear of not being able to ski was making her do just that - not ski. She was either to take a chance and try it, or to sit out and not do it at all. Even if she was not well enough, she would not be skiing either way. The only real choice she had was to attempt it. At least then she had a chance of success.

Tentatively, she pushed off down the gradual slope, slowly gliding downwards. The wind rolled by her face and reddened her cheeks a tiny fraction. Nothing seemed to be going wrong just yet. She tried moving a little faster, and the only pain was from her big toe of the quadruple-socked foot pushing against the top of her boot. So far so good.

So she could go downhill (albeit a gradual one,) but could she turn? That would be the final test of readiness for her before deciding she was well enough to try a steeper hill. The others were puttering around in the general area, but she was too focused upon her present goal to notice the difficulty Ivan was having handling his pole.

She climbed back up to the summit of the tiny hill and took a deep breath in anticipation. Lining up to push off, she let a soft breeze roll by before beginning to move.

She started off heading straight, then slowly turned off her good foot. It was fairly easy and painless aside from her large toe, which she had begun to ignore by that point. Satisfied, she decided to try turning on the injured foot. Gradually, she attempted to make a turn, but out of seemingly nowhere, there came a burning pain emanating from where she could tell was the cut. Distracted by the pain, she lost track of where she was heading and bumped into a large rock, knocking her over.

In that one moment, all her healing had reversed itself. None of the other three had seen her go down, and so were going about their business as usual. Sitting with her gloved hands resting in the fresh snow, Maddie could feel the pounding of her heartbeat in her injured foot. She feared that she had torn a few stitches, so she swiftly pulled off her boot and placed her foot on top of her other thigh. She could not see any blood through the multiple layers of sock just yet.

Removing one after another, she did not see any sign of red until she reached the second to last sock, where a small line of blood had come through. She ripped the last two off together and inspected the damage she had done herself.

The stitches had stayed in largely place, but the cut itself had torn a bit more on the lower end of it. She groaned in frustration and agony at her few days of healing undone. Deep inside, she had had the sinking feeling that her attempt would turn out like this, but she had not heeded it. There was no way she was going to be competing the next day. Her father would not allow it, and after experiencing the pain she had led herself to, she would not allow herself to either.

The injury was not serious enough for more stitches, but she definitely was not going to continue skiing. She collected a small amount of snow in her gloved hand, inspected it to make sure it was pure enough, and then used it to wash away a bit of the excess blood. Once her foot was clean enough for her liking, she pulled on the socks that had not been soiled by the blood and put her boot back on. There was no sense in giving herself frostbite by merely sitting outside with her boots off.

"If you'd stop trying to push yourself, you'd heal much faster."

The presence of another voice broke the windy silence and startled her slightly. She had thought she was alone, and did not hear anyone approaching. Turning over her shoulder, she saw a familiar body standing a few feet behind her. Immediately, an air of hostility invaded her body.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Relax. I saw someone fall over and waited but whoever it was did not get up, so I thought I should come over and see what happened." Nikolaas slid himself a little bit closer to her and extended his hand to help her up. She regarded it with suspicion, but ultimately accepted the help. She straightened herself up, but opted not to put pressure on the newly-opened injury.

"Quit walking around so much. If you want to heal you have to be as gentle as possible on yourself."

She was mildly surprised that he of all people was the one giving her advice. Of course, it was along the same lines as the advice Dr. Wang had given her, but still, it was reinforcing said limits to her abilities as she healed. She knew he was right, but still started to defend her knowledge of healing as an athlete.

"I've dealt with plenty of injuries before, and I always come out fine. I think I know how to heal." It came out much more indignant than she had anticipated. Knowing Nikolaas' temperament and hoping for a mild reaction, she busied herself in adjusting her skis.

"Every time you go out walking and gallivanting around, you are causing wear on the injury and it reopens. It'll take forever to heal if you keep on that way." Slight annoyance in his voice was all that she could detect, and she was amazed at his level-headedness. She could not in any capacity deny that he was right, but it was so odd to hear that coming out of his mouth. She had pinned him as a rotten kind of guy, but it was possible that she had been wrong to judge him so quickly.

'Evil,' Maddie learned, was such a subjective term. Most of the time, evil was merely perceived from one side of a problem. The concept of good and bad was a lot more complicated than most presumed it to be. When she was younger, Maddie was prompted to see good and bad as merely black and white. There were good people, and there were bad people, simple as that.

However, as she got older, the distance between the two began to fill itself with various shades of gray: People who did bad things but did not intend to, people who spent many hours contemplating acting upon evil impulses, but rarely made a move to realize them, liars , cheats and thieves not nearly as evil as the unspeakably sick people that thankfully did not grace her daily life. She learned people had motives, passions, and complicating factors that led to their apparent 'evil.' A little white lie was looked upon as a sparing action as opposed to blatant trickery.

Every day she lived, it became harder and harder to distinguish good and bad. Almost everything and everybody had an explanation.

Now that she was back on her feet, the real challenge would be making her way back up the hill. Despite her recent decision that he was not all that bad, she still did not want to have to ask him to physically help her, but she had another idea.

"If you don't mind, would you go find my friends and get them to come and help me? They should be around here somewhere." She hoped that this was not too much to ask him for, and luckily, it seemed like he had no problem doing so. She waited a few minutes in silence, heartbeat finally receding from the extended injury in her foot, before she saw Katyusha appear over the crest of the hill. Nikolaas, Ivan and Natalya were not in sight.

The woman slid down the hill carefully and came up beside her. Maddie explained what had happened, and without even a moment's hesitation, Katyusha placed her arm around her shoulder and slowly helped her up the hill. Maddie was so grateful that she was around, but when they reached the top of the hill, she could not see the others anywhere.

"Where did Ivan and Natalya go?"

Katyusha helped to shift Maddie's weight closer and closer to the back door of the lodge. "Ivan could not get a proper grip on his ski pole because of the injury to his hand, so Natalya took him inside and is forbidding him to ski any further."

Maddie contemplated this statement for a moment before she realized its implications.

"So that means that he can't compete tomorrow either?"

A nod was all the answer Maddie needed. Neither of them would be in the competition.

* * *

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